--- Sanford Levinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> For what it is worth, I often say "Mazel Tov" to
> Christian friends precisely because the term, to my
> knowledge, has no religious meaning at all. It is a
> way of saying "congratulations." (I think that it
> literally means "Happy day."
>
----------
not quite. "Mazel Tov" is Hebrew for "Good
Luck". Tov = "good", Mazel = "luck". Despite the
literal meaning, the phrase is used idiomatically to
mean "Congratulations". It would certainly NOT be an
appropriate thing to say on Christmas, unless the
individual addressed had recently experienced
something to be congratulated for.
No, Mazel Tov is not "religious", but it is a
Jewish phrase. And unlike Xtianity, Judaism is not
just a religion, it is also a culture. Using Hebrew
or Yiddish phrases is being very outwardly Jewish, no
matter how non-religious the particular phrases are.
Being outwardly very Jewish is therefore not at all
like being outwardly or evangelically Xtian.
I will jump in to the more important issues
raised in this thread shortly. Suffice for now to say
that I DID wish all my non-Jewish co-workers a Happy
New Year before Rosh HaShana, and they were delighted
(if a bit confused) and wished me the same. Some even
asked for a brief explanation of the Hebrew calendar.
Sharing one's culture for a few moments is no more
intrusive than showing photos of your grandchild or
whatever.
~Rita
I am unaware of any
> prayer in the Jewish liturgy that includes the
> words.) Similarly with "L'Chaim" (To life), which
> has no necessary religious import. But I agree with
> Alan that I would not wish my Christian friends a
> "Happy New Year" right before Rosh Hashanah because
> I am aware that it's not their holiday and, indeed,
> they might regard it as a bit bizarre, like asking
> them if they're having a "bris" (a ritual
> circumcision) for their newly born son. (I assume
> that it would be equally bizarre if a Christian
> friend asked me when the Baptism is going to take
> place.) Most of the time we can figure out such
> things. I think that Doug's posting is right on the
> mark with regard to Thanksgiving and Christmas,which
> have become an unhappy mixture of sacred and secular
> days. For some Jews, "Merry Christmas" is
> innocuous; for others, it's like being served shrimp
> cocktail or pancetta as an appetizer at a dinner
> party. I don't eat pork or shellfish, and if that
> happened at a friend's home, I'd find it more than a
> bit odd (and I wouldn't be particularly mollified if
> I were told that such cuisine was an expression of
> my friend's identity). Generally, it's all right
> with me to be wished "Merry Christmas," since the
> term for most Americans no longer has a religious
> meaning of the kind that Doug describes, though I'm
> even happier if people say "Happy Holidays" or the
> like.
>
> sandy
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf
> of Alan Brownstein
> Sent: Mon 11/28/2005 5:02 PM
> To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics
> Subject: RE: The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its
> Name
>
>
>
> I'm sorry, Greg. I just don't get it. I would say
> Mozel Tov to my Christian friends. I would not wish
> them a Happy Passover. I certainly do not feel that
> I am practicing self-denial and the suppression of
> my identity when I wish my Christian friends a Happy
> Easter, but refrain from wishing them a Happy
> Passover. Why would you feel that you are
> suppressing your identity if you wished me a Happy
> Passover instead of a Happy Easter?
>
>
>
> Alan Brownstein
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
> Behalf Of Sisk, Gregory C.
> Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 2:51 PM
> To: 'Law & Religion issues for Law Academics'
> Subject: RE: The Holiday That Dare Not Speak Its
> Name
>
>
>
> Even to the extent that "Merry Christmas" is a
> religious expression by the speaker, and surely it
> is some of the time (and by some speakers all of the
> time), to chastise the person who offers "Merry
> Christmas" as a greeting or to expect the courteous
> speaker to self-censor that rather minimalist
> religious sentiment strikes me as precisely the kind
> of arid and artificial denial of self-identity that
> we tend to reject today for almost every other
> segment of society. In a society that is
> affirmatively pluralistic in the public setting,
> rather than reluctantly tolerant (or worse,
> intolerant), we ought to encourage every person to
> positively express him or herself in a manner that
> upholds individual dignity and identity as part of a
> community of deeply shared meaning. For a student
> to resist a congratulatory message expressed by a
> Jew as "Mazeltov" appears to me to be the equivalent
> of saying, "if you have to be Jewish, at least try
> to keep it to yourself so that I am not made
> uncomfortable and do not have to acknowledge you as
> a Jew." For a Christian to deliberately refrain
> from sharing words of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy
> Easter" at those points in the year corresponding to
> the two greatest celebrations of the Christian faith
> likewise would involve a degree of self-denial and
> suppression of identity. What is important about
> the expression in either case is not as much what it
> means to the recipient as in how it expresses the
> sincere conviction and associational values of the
> speaker. We ought to encourage more such positive
> expressions by members of diverse religious
> communities rather than strip the public square of
> all religious expression, thereby creating a naked
> secularism that leaves us all feeling cold and
> alienated.
>
>
>
> Greg Sisk
>
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