Christmas/Hanukkah Cards Assailed as Affront to Faiths

A Jewish group and an interfaith agency have criticized holiday cards that combine Christmas and Hanukkah symbols, saying that they are “an affront to Judaism, to Christianity and to serious interfaith relations.”

In a joint statement, the American Jewish Committee and the National Conference of Christians and Jews said that “true interreligious relations require respect for the integrity of distinct faiths and a repudiation of syncretism. Greeting cards that mingle Santas and menorahs, angels, trees, stockings and Stars of David, are objectionable. This would also be the case with the symbols of Easter and Passover.”

Mort Yarmon, director of public relations for the Committee, provided samples of cards that show an angel lighting a menorah, a menorah atop a Christmas tree and a bearded Jew holding a menorah next to Santa Claus with a caption that reads, “Happy Whatever.”

In their statement, the two groups appealed to the publishers of such cards to “refrain from future editions” and urged the public to “reject unequivocably anything that blurs the distinctions between our unique and cherished religious holidays.”