Seasonal Greetings from... Jersey's Jewish Community

Friday 27 December 2019

December isn't just a time for Christian celebration. As the President of the Jersey Jewish Community, Stephen Regal, writes in his seasonal greetings, it's also an important time for Jews.

And rather than stress the differences between the two faiths, he believes this is the ideal time of the year to 'celebrate our love of life and similarities as one people'...

"We Christians and Jews - two of the three great Abrahamic faiths - share a common joy at this time of the calendar year, a celebration of two Festivals the dates of which that this year completely coincide.

The reason for them failing to coincide every year is that the vast majority of particularly the Western world, uses the solar Julian calendar of twelve months with which we are all familiar, whereas our Jewish Year consists of 13 lunar months, with various adjustments to keep it in line with the solar year ensuring that the seasons timing and duration are maintained.

Pictured: Jersey's Jewish synagogue and the Church of England's St Helier Church.

However, this year the two Festivals' dates are in harmony.

This brings me to writing about the harmony that we share as followers of different but similar Faiths. The primary source of agreement between us is that there is one G-d, not a Jewish deity nor a Christian divinity, just one all seeing all knowing omnipotent G-d.

By the way, do you see that I don’t write the full name of G-d? In the Jewish Faith, we consider this to be taking the Lord’s name in vain, part of the Ten Commandments that we all share.

Many people ask me about the difference between Judaism and Christianity when they first meet me, I prefer to consider the similarities rather than the minor differences between the two Faiths. Yes, the doctrines of each have differences, however the basic tenets of our two Faiths differs little in essence.

One of the fundamental beliefs that we share is the Golden Rule in Christianity, as stated in Mathew 7-12, the familiar: “Do unto others and you would have them do to you.” In our Faith, the saying by the sage Hillel captures the sentiment: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

Pictured: The festive season is a chance to come together, regardless of faith.

So as we all celebrate a Festival of Happiness, for we Jews Chanukah, and for my friends of the Christian Faith, the birth of the infant Jesus, Christmas we join together in delight and joy we can face the worst that winter can throw at us with unity and love celebrating that which we can all share.

We can all cease work for a day or two to step back from the mundane difficulties of our everyday lives and rejoice in the time that we can share with our families and friends together - Christian, Jew, Muslim, those of faith and those of no faith - and remember that we are all of the human race, different in outlook but all of us are sprung from the same stock.

On these joyful holidays we should forget any worldly differences and celebrate our love of life and similarities as one people.

So, with all my heart, I wish everyone celebrating Christmas or Chanukah a wonderful fulfilling time and indeed, as the week progresses, a sincerely and very Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year from the Jewish Community of Jersey."