For many years my parents have worked in an opticians (optometry) store in the middle of a non-Jewish town center (for those in England, if it helps them appreciate the question better, it is located in Bury town center. If you are in need of an eye test or new spectacles, I highly recommend paying a visit!) One of the things that many stores do to attract customers this time of year, is they decorate the storefront with various different themes. I have often wondered, if during this time of year, it would be ok to decorate the storefront with an x-mas tree, something, which is very common in both England, and the USA.
This question is also relevant for someone who owns a residential building where only non-Jews reside, would a Jewish landlord be allowed to arrange for an x-mas tree to be placed there? Is there room to be lenient, if it will help attract customers, or make tenants happy?
The Tree and the Jew
Before we discuss this question, I would like to bring a story I heard from R’ Yissochar Frand:
There was a certain reception in honor of Rabbi Berel Wein in Detroit. The person hosting the reception was a big wig in Detroit and he invited many business associates including the editor of the Detroit Free Press to this luncheon.
The editor of the Detroit Free Press asked if he could address the assemblage. This Detroit Free Press and this editor in particular had a history of being very pro-Israel and very pro-Jewish. The editor got up and said the following:
“I want to tell you why I have such warm feelings towards the Jewish people in general and towards Israel in particular. My mother came over from Ireland in the earlier part of the twentieth century. As was common with immigrants in those days, she was a housecleaner. She got a job as a maid in the house of an Orthodox Jew, a prominent member of the Jewish community, who happened to live next to a shul. The family, for whatever reason, went out of town for a couple of weeks during December and they were scheduled to come home on December 23rd.”
“My mother thought to herself, ‘This is terrible. They are out of town. When they come back, it will already be December 23rd at night. Where are they going to get a tree for the living room?’ Therefore, she decided, ‘They are such good people to me – I am going to go out and buy a tree.’ She bought a tree and put it in the front window of the living room, right next to the shul. She bought the tinsel, and she put up the red and the green lights.”
When people came to shul for mincha-ma’ariv, they saw the house all decorated for the Christian holiday and they started wondering – What happened with these people?
When the owner arrived home that night, he looked at his living room window and could not believe his eyes.
There are two ways he could have reacted to this. He could have told the maid to “PLEASE GET THIS THING OUT OF HERE IMMEDIATELY!!!” or he could have spoken to her gently, as he did. He called her into the kitchen and said “I want to tell you – this is one of the nicest, most sensitive, most considerate things that ANYONE has ever done to me in my life. I am so appreciative that I am going to give you a bigger x-mas bonus than I intended.” He handed her a $50 bill (which in those days was a lot of money). “However”, he continued, “We do not celebrate this holiday and we do not display trees in our houses. So, in spite of the fact that it was such a beautiful sentiment on your part, we are going to need to get rid of the tree.”
The editor of the Detroit Free Press told the reception of Jewish leaders that his mother used to tell him this story about the tree and the Jew. It created such warm feelings in him towards Jews, Judaism and Israel. Why? It is because one Jew made a Kiddush Hashem that had a wide-ranging impact. One Jew did not just react to the spectacle of a tree sitting in his living room, but rather he thought about what went into it, and what the maid must have been thinking, and how sensitive that was, and he reacted in a sensitive matter. That created a Kiddush Hashem that had ramifications for many years to come.
We cannot erase the effects of some Jews who may unfortunately embarrass themselves and us. However, we can always do our best to make a Kiddush Hashem.
Back to Our Question
I came across a Teshuvah from R’ Yaakov Skoczylas shlita who discusses this exact question, and I would like to share with you what he writes.
A Source Which Would Seem to Imply That One Must Be Stringent
There is a Teshuvah from R’ Chaim Berlin (Sefer Otzar Rabbi Chaim Berlin, Yoreh De’ah 110), where he was asked about a story in which a non-Jew gave his Jewish neighbor his idols and told him to place them in his window to save his house, and possibly even his own life, from being destroyed by an angry mob of non-Jews. (In that case, the questioner wished to know whether he was required to do teshuvah for having done so.)
In response, he cites the Gemara in Avodah Zarah (13a), which states as follows: R’ Nosson says: On the day that the idol worshippers waive the sales tax, they would announce, “Anyone who takes a wreath and places it on his head or on his donkey’s head in honor of the idol will be exempt from the tax; otherwise, he will not be exempt.” What should a Jew who is present there do? If he puts it on, he derives benefit; if he does not put it on, he is benefitting the idol.
Rashi and Tosfos explain that when the Gemara says that “if he puts it on, he derives benefit,” this refers to him smelling the wreath, which was made from plants that were used to serve avodah zarah. That which he is exempted from the tax is not considered deriving benefit from the idol, as the money was his all along; thus, he is not benefiting directly from the idol but rather just avoiding financial loss.
R’ Chaim Berlin, however, notes that the Tur (Yoreh Deah, 149:3) explains that the benefit here is because they are waiving his tax. According to this interpretation, even the prevention of financial loss is considered a benefit. See the Bach there, who concludes that even Tosfos agrees that it is forbidden to derive benefit from the money. See further in Taz (2) on this matter. See also further in this Teshuvah for what R’ Chaim Berlin writes about using an idol to save oneself from death.
In practice, Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein shlita, discusses a question of someone who wanted to place an idol in his store to save himself, and addresses whether it is permitted to use an idol to save one’s life. Based on the above ruling from R’ Chaim Berlin, he writes that there may be some grounds for leniency.
However, in our case of the storeowner wishing to attract customers, where the only consideration is financial gain, there doesn’t seem to be any ground for leniency.
Rav Yisroel Belsky’s Investigation
R’ Skoczylas brings that he heard that Rav Yisroel Belsky zt”l, investigated the matter and concluded that the x-mas tree itself is no longer worshipped but is merely placed as a memorial or remembrance. Nonetheless it is highly improper for a Jew to keep such a tree in his store.
A Teshuvah from R’ Oelbaum shlita
Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum shlita, author of Minchas Chen, wrote a Teshuvah to R’ Skoczylas on this topic and he writes: In principle, it would appear permissible to place an x-mas tree inside the store, as it is not a religious symbol of idol worship. Therefore, from a halachic standpoint, there is room to be lenient. It is preferable, however, if in practice one could fulfill “distance yourself from ugliness and anything resembling it.”
Can One Use X-Mas Lights to Decorate a Succah
The Divrei Dovid (1:18) discusses whether it is permitted to use “x-mas lights”—electric-colored lights that are manufactured in the Far East, and supposedly, primarily for the purpose of decorating x-mas trees on the Christian holiday—to decorate a succah or to hang in a Beis Haknesses. He writes that it is permitted, since the tree is merely a symbol and not worshipped. Even more so considering that items that are only meant for beautifying the person worshiping are not prohibited, as explained in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah, 139:11) that the clothing worn by priests who enter idolatrous places are ornamental only and do not require annulment. Although the Shulchan Aruch prohibits the usage of candles that were used for avodah zarah in a Beis Haknesses, in our case of the tree lights it is even better, as they were never used for idol worship.
Similarly, the Chasam Sofer (Shu”t, Orach Chaim 42) allows for never before used candles from a house of avodah zarah to be lit in a Beis Haknesses, as they were merely designated for use, and even nullified through its sale. Similarly, the Kaf HaChaim (Yoreh De’ah 154:83) and Maharsham in Da’as Torah rule this way as well.
Based on the above, the Divrei Dovid writes: Based on this, one may be lenient regarding scented cardboard x-mas trees intended for hanging in cars (often given out in carwashes). This is not a concern, for we have clarified that the tree is not worshipped but is merely a symbol for their holiday, and thus it is permitted to hang for its scent.
A Teshuvah from the Beis Avi
The Beis Avi (Vol. 5, Yoreh De’ah 99) also discusses this topic and writes: At first glance, I thought this was directly related to idolatry, as “oso ha’ish” (Yoshkah), who was hanged on a tree, is why the holiday night is called “ניתל —hanged” (the spelling was changed to “ניטל“ with a “ט ” due to the censors). But after investigating, I discovered that it is completely unrelated to worshipping the one who was hanged. It is simply a custom of the non-Jews, for beautification and home decoration, unrelated to any idol worship; it is not worshipped at all, nor is it prayed to.
The Beis Avi adds that this fits well with the Rema (141:1), who rules that the cross worn on the neck is not avodah zarah but rather of memorial nature only. Accordingly, we may say the same of a decorated x-mas tree: it is not made for idol worship but for decoration alone. He thus concludes that there is no need to even urge the non-Jews to remove trees at the entrance to the building (where a Jew also lives), as it is not avodah zarah but only a decorative symbol for the home, with no trace of idolatry. Furthermore, it is well known that the nations of today do not foolishly worship “wood and stone”; if in the times of the Gemara, the nations did not truly worship idolatry but followed it only because of “minhag avos,” all the more so in our enlightened times, there is certainly no intent of idol worship in their actions.
R’ Moshe Feinstein’s Famous Stamp Heter
We may further derive a leniency regarding placing an x-mas tree in front of a building or a store, based on the heter given by Igros Moshe (Yoreh De’ah, 1:69) to trade stamps with images of the cross, since they are made for decoration and not idolatry: Therefore, even more so regarding x-mas trees that are not worshipped at all, and are merely a decorative custom and symbol for their holiday, there is no cause for concern at all.
Conclusion
Although it is best to avoid using an x-mas tree for advertising in residential spaces, if a significant need arises, there is sufficient basis for leniency as explained.
Additionally, I would like to add, that even if it is allowed, it’s very funny for a Jew to own a store which is obligated in mezuzah and at the same time to put up an x-mas tree. On Chanukah we find an inyan of having mezuzah on one side of the door and menorah on the other, for a Jew to own a store and have a mezuzah on one side of the door, and a x-mas tree on the other, just doesn’t sit very well with me.
