A friend shared this photo of a ham that's on sale at Walmart for the Jewish holiday of Chanukah. For Jews, eating ham or pork any time of the year isn't kosher. Linking ham to the the upcoming Jewish holiday is totally inappropriate, even offensive.
Was this a gag, a major faux pas on the part of some ignorant store employee -- or is there a tinge of anti-semitism in the corporate culture of Walmart? Trouble is, we don't and won't know -- for sure.
This morning, I had to move a Christmas tree lamp out of sight of my teachers and students. It had been placed on a desk in our synagogue's main office. Most Jews don't celebrate Christmas, unless they are in a family of mixed religious observance or they shirt-tail in on the holiday of extended family or friends.
To see a Christmas tree decoration in my synagogue -- the one place we, especially our children, should be free from or shielded from the bombardment of the major Christian holiday of Christmas -- is totally inappropriate and offensive.
Once again the same questions apply: Was this a gag, a major faux pas on the part of an ignorant employee -- or passive-aggressive anti-semitism coming out in a Jewish workplace. No matter how this is resolved, I and others who are subjected to the lamp won't know -- for sure.
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