At first I thought it was an accidental delay. The Christmas tree and many Christmas decorations went up the day after Thanksgiving in my apartment building lobby as they do every year. But the Chanukah (Hanukkah) Menorah that had been a part of the holiday decorations for the past four years was no where to be seen. A bunch of magazines had been piled on the chest where it would normally be placed. It was strange.
I love Christmas decorations. All my life as a Jewish woman part of the holiday season has involved driving through areas looking at beautiful decorations or visiting friend’s homes and enjoying their trees. Friends, in turn, have come to enjoy sharing Chanukah in my home which is now in an historic apartment building near the White House.
I contacted our building manager who originally bought the Menorah reminding her that Chanukah began on December 18th, and asked her not to forget to put it out. It appeared shortly after and was put on a chest in the lobby. And then it disappeared two days later. Its spot was simply empty.
Two days after no return, I thought perhaps the Menorah had been stolen.
My building is one of 200 residential properties owned and operated nationwide by Camden Property Trust. They are a publicly traded company with multiple layers of management. Chanukah was soon approaching, and I reached out to a regional manager inquiring about the missing Menorah. His email response was baffling since the Menorah had been in place as part of the holiday decor for the previous four years: He wrote:
“The Menorah has not be stolen. We have removed it based on Camden taking a stance that we will not show any religious decorations. The trees are up citing a 1989 Supreme Court decision stating that a tree is not a religious symbol, rather a seasonal symbol.“
But he incorrectly stated the Supreme Court decision which makes clear that both Christmas AND Chanukah have attained secular status. Here’s the Court ruling:
"JUSTICE BLACKMUN concluded in Part VI that the menorah display does not have the prohibited effect of endorsing religion, given its "particular physical setting." (placed next to a Christmas tree) Its combined display with a Christmas tree and a sign saluting liberty does not impermissibly endorse both the Christian and Jewish faiths, but simply recognizes that both Christmas and Chanukah are part of the same winter holiday season, which has attained a secular status in our society."
I responded to the Camden email letting them know that they were not only incorrect about the Supreme Court ruling, but that the Fair Housing Act and HUD have also ruled that the Menorah is not a religious object. I added, “So Camden in the midst of a tragically unfortunate surge in antisemitism in our country has decided to remove Menorahs?”
The next Camden response twisted the Fair Housing Act to try and justify their removal of the Menorah stating:
“In light of the Fair Housing Act and in an effort to treat all residents and their religious beliefs equally, we have made a decision not to display any religious decor at the property. We appreciate and respect every resident’s religious belief(s) and because we cannot cover all those potential beliefs.”
But, once again, the Menorah has been ruled “non-religious. The FHA and HUD both state:
"Certain holiday symbols, such as Santa Claus, the Christmas tree, and the menorah have also been deemed “non-religious” by the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and are okay to use as well."
It was now four days before Chanukah.
Jewish residents, or those of other faiths, were left to wade through a large lobby area filled with a Christmas tree, Christmas wreaths and many additional Christmas decorations while listening to Christmas carols being played on the music system. The holiday gift wrapping station was once again set up for tenants and their gifts with assorted gift paper and ribbons paid for by the building. Amazingly this year it was missing any Chanukah wrapping paper which had been there in previous years. So if you are Jewish and wanted to wrap your presents along with your Christian neighbors, you were out of luck.
I was unprepared for how I felt each day and night walking by the empty spot in the lobby where the Menorah once sat. I have personally dealt with antisemitism in the past, but nothing like this for many years. Now I was dealing with it multiple times a day as I came and went. It was a horrible, stressful feeling knowing that I, along with other Jewish tenants, were being discriminated against.
I decided to go up the corporate ladder to really understand what was behind this entire Chanukah move by Camden. In a telephone conversation with a Vice President I was told they not only didn’t want religious objects put in the lobby but he now called the Christmas tree a “holiday tree.” He said they had their lawyers review things wanting their “guidelines to match the way things are today.” When I asked him to put the Menorah back up before the holiday began, I was told he couldn’t "guarantee that."
The night before Chanukah began, a non-Jewish neighbor was apparently outraged at the disappearance of the Menorah and found it stashed in a chest drawer in the lobby. He reportedly took it out and lit it. It stayed lit for the first two nights of the eight night holiday and then, if you can believe, it disappeared and was never seen again.
As the lights on the “holiday tree” shown bright, nobody who owns this building thought again about putting out their “holiday Menorah.”
#antisemitism