David Klinghoffer wonders what God had in mind bringing the Christian faith into the world:
I happened to overhear recently when a friend of mine asked the poised young wife of a Chabad rabbi if her family celebrates Thanksgiving. In general, ultra-Orthodox Jews shy away from marking non-Jewish holidays.
“No,” she answered with sort of a secret smile, “but we do appreciate it.”
This is exactly how I think of Christmas and I’ve been feeling less guilty about that lately.
[ . . . ]
Jews stand out for our level of achievement in virtually every sphere of endeavor — whether playing the violin or making motion pictures, doing physics or doing business — that is, every area except the one that the God of Israel cares most about, that of moral and religious leadership. Jews who speak out in public on moral issues almost invariably do so on questions where they stand in defiance of the Torah. Either that, or they lecture others on moral issues that are of great relevance to Jews (anti-Semitism, support for Israel) but much less so to anyone else. Religiously faithful Jews, per se, remain almost entirely irrelevant on the American scene.
This is in sharp contrast to traditional and conservative Christians. Defending the sanctity of human life or the traditional family, standing up for God’s honor as the creator of the world, or reaching out to and teaching the spiritually lost and searching of all ethnicities — these are all seen as Christian vocations, not Jewish ones.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
