Christmas and Hanukkah: Celebrating Our Judeo-Christian Alliance

This evening, as the stars emerge and the chill of the winter night gusts, Americans will be treated to a multifaith display of light that occurs only once every 19 years. Across streets like the one I grew up on, where Jews and Christians live side-by-side in harmony, the light of the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah will illuminate the city windows alongside glowing Christmas trees. It is quite fitting that Hanukkah and Christmas coincide this year: one in which the Jewish and Christian communities have joined together to fight the antisemitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Westernism that threaten us alike. And it ought to remind us of the improvements in Jewish-Christian relations here in America for which I am so grateful. It wasn’t always this way, and, in fact, it was not that long ago that the holiday pages of National Review were occupied by a Jewish intellectual who, though hopeful for a harmonious Judeo-Christian relationship in line with our nation’s founding, was disappointed that such a connection proved elusive.

In December of 1988, the great Irving Kristol took to the pages of National Review to observe that “It is my strong impression that, while relations between Christians and Jews as individuals are far better today than ever before, tensions between the two religious communities are being exacerbated.” Why? Partially because “the major Jewish organizations proceed from the correct proposition that legally and constitutionally we are not a Christian nation, to the absurd proposition that we are in no sense at all a Christian society.” The very core of our national creed, then, seemed to be in contention. The best Kristol hoped for was “a lot of nice diplomacy” which “our religious leaders ought to be capable of . . .”

About the Author

Natan Ehrenreich

Natan Ehrenreich, a recent graduate of Yeshiva University, is a writing fellow at National Review.

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This evening, as the stars emerge and the chill of the winter night gusts, Americans will be treated to a multifaith display of light that occurs only once every 19 years. Across streets like the one I grew up on, where Jews and Christians live side-by-side in harmony, the light of the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah will illuminate the city windows alongside glowing Christmas trees. It is quite fitting that Hanukkah and Christmas coincide this year: one in which the Jewish and Christian communities have joined together to fight the antisemitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Westernism that threaten us alike. And it ought to remind us of the improvements in Jewish-Christian relations here in America for which I am so grateful. It wasn’t always this way, and, in fact, it was not that long ago that the holiday pages of National Review were occupied by a Jewish intellectual who, though hopeful for a harmonious Judeo-Christian relationship in line with our nation’s founding, was disappointed that such a connection proved elusive.

In December of 1988, the great Irving Kristol took to the pages of National Review to observe that “It is my strong impression that, while relations between Christians and Jews as individuals are far better today than ever before, tensions between the two religious communities are being exacerbated.” Why? Partially because “the major Jewish organizations proceed from the correct proposition that legally and constitutionally we are not a Christian nation, to the absurd proposition that we are in no sense at all a Christian society.” The very core of our national creed, then, seemed to be in contention. The best Kristol hoped for was “a lot of nice diplomacy” which “our religious leaders ought to be capable of . . .”