On the Fir Tree Affair at the Technion
Rabbi Michi,
What do you think about the “Fir Tree” affair?
Is this similar to the fact that Hanukkah menorahs are placed on campuses in the US (such as Chabad), and since the campuses allow this, there is no reason for the Technion to avoid placing a fir tree in the student’s home?
I don’t see any problem with putting up Christmas trees. Universities are not Jewish.
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Asks:
But the state is Jewish and the universities are a public place of the Jewish state. The food sold there must be kosher and the ceremonies held there must express the Jewish state.
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Rabbi:
The food in them is kosher by their decision and not by law. And this is for the sake of accessibility to all students (there are many who strictly observe kosher). It is not a question of religious or national identity. And certainly the rituals in them do not express any of this.
A university is not supposed to have an identity unless it happens to define itself as such (like Bar Ilan. This is not wrong, but it is not necessary).
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