Q&A: On the Christmas Tree Affair at the Technion
On the Christmas Tree Affair at the Technion
Question
Rabbi Michi,
What do you think about the “Christmas tree” affair?
Is this similar to the fact that menorahs are put up on campuses in the U.S. (for example by Chabad), and just as campuses allow that, there is no reason for the Technion to prevent putting up a Christmas tree in the student center?
Answer
I don't see any problem with putting up Christmas trees. Universities are not Jewish.
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Questioner:
But the state is Jewish, and the universities are a public institution of the Jewish state. The food sold there should be kosher, and the ceremonies held there should express the Jewish state.
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Rabbi:
The food there is kosher by their own decision, not by law. And that is out of consideration for accessibility to the student body as a whole (many are careful about kashrut). This is not a question of religious or national identity. And certainly the ceremonies there do not express anything of the sort.
A university is not supposed to have an identity unless it happens to define itself that way (like Bar-Ilan). That is not invalid, but it is not necessary.