O.U. defends White House Chanukah card
The Orthodox Union's Institute for Public Affairs defended the inclusion of a Christmas tree on the White House Chanukah card this year:
Some in the community and media are having fun, or even taking offense, with the fact that when the invitations arrived for this year's White House Chanukah Party, they were illustrated with a scene of a horse-drawn cart delivering The White House Christmas tree.
To make this - or any President's - gracious hospitality the subject of jest is chutzpah of the highest order.
Not only is George W. Bush the first to place a Chanukah Party on The White House calendar, but when the fact of this event is considered in the context of Jewish history - a history of centuries of persecution and exclusion - a sensible person's only reaction can be one of gratitude for the freedom Jews enjoy in the United States of America and respect and appreciation for this nation's president.
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C’mon Edwn,
It is funny...a Christmas tree on a Chanukkah card? It’s the least of Bush’s gaffes. At least it’s one we can all laugh about.
With today’s news from India we can use something to smile about.
We really don’t need a Channukah card from the thieving Bush White House at all if the only one they can send rubs our noses in the snow. But the Orthadox Union, with hat in hand as always, appreciates any little morsel of crap thrown our way. Oh, thank you Mr. President, for all that you your Evangelical brothers have done for the Jews throughout history. Thank you, you pig. Somebody please give us our balls back!
Let’s get it right! Send a MixedBlessing Holiday Card that combines Christmas and Hanukkah. Let’s acknowledge both holidays together and include everyone on your list!
MixedBlessing also offers cards celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, in one! Wouldn’t this be a nice way to honor our new president. Can’t we all just get along.
Happy Whatever!
I have received many greeting cards at this time of year with buddhist themes, I’ve gotten and still get cards from friends with a Menorah as it’s theme, I also receive many cards with Christmas themes on them, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM,PEOPLE? If you are offended or slighted by a card with a Chrismas theme...GET OVER IT! May be you need to remember the thought for you from the one who sends it. Oh, or maybe you need not get a damn card of any kind, or else during the year make sure you tell everyone your silly stance on cards so they avoid you like the plague. Like it was said, Jews were included in the Whitehouse invite. Don’ blow it by being an erratic perfectionist ass! Oh, yeah Len, get yer head out of your ass and maybe you can then smell the roses that are held by people who wish to include you! If Bush is a thief , charge him and prosecute, otherwise shut your dopey pie hole....assrant moron! Honestly, you self-righteous dipshits are soooo tiresome,,,don’t go away angry at the Bush administration,,,just GO AWAY!
I was one of the people who passed the photo of the card to some friends - I don’t think anyone can deny that someone in the White House made a large faux pas. However, I disagree with people who are making the story bigger than it is by implying that it is evidence of general cultural insensitivity or indication of Bush’s Israel policy or something.
As for mixed cards or Xmas cards sent to friends who are identifiably Jewish, I’m not as accepting of that sort of thing. Chanukah is its own holiday and the fact that it happens to occur at roughly the same time as Xmas on the calendar doesn’t mean they should be pushed together. “Getting along” doesn’t mean making everything into a friendly ecumenical lump—it means respecting everyone’s culture and being sensitive to differences in belief.
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Edwin Svigals
11/28/08 03:03 PM
There are people whose greatest happiness is to make someone else wrong...joy enters their heart when they can seize on something to criticize.
So in the spirit of the season they received a gift from the White House - a Chanukkah card that they could complain about…
They should at least send Pres. Bush a thank you note…