All around the world at this time of the year, people are preparing for the Christmas holiday. While the holiday is not celebrated by all people groups, it is still one of the most recognized by many. Even if the holiday has become somewhat of an excuse for out-of-control commercial madness, few are those who do not know that Christmas is linked to the birth of the Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth.
One common denominator at the Christmas season is cheer and good will amongst men. People take a break from the stress of their daily routine and gather with family and friends over good food and gifts. Another tradition that transcends borders is the singing of Christmas carols, usually about one aspect or another regarding the Birth of Yeshua.
That is of course the normal tradition unless you live in Romania in 2013, where national TV channel TVR3 Verde just broadcasted a different kind of Christmas carol. The words of the song literally sent chills down my spine as I read the translation for the first time and I apologize in advance for the harsh language:
Christmas in Romania: Deck the Halls and Burn the Jews!
“The kikes, damn kikes, Holy God would not leave the kike alive, neither in heaven nor on earth, only in the chimney as smoke, this is what the kike is good for, to make kike smoke through the chimney on the street.”
This song promotes the burning of Jews reminiscent of the Holocaust and the gas chambers. This has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas and there is absolutely no way to even pretend that it is not driven by classic anti-Semitism. This is terrifying!
But what is probably more terrifying to me is the fact that the director of the TV station instantly shifted the blame onto the area of Romania (Cluj County) that was performing under the guise of “culture and tradition”. The song was apparently selected by the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture. All the TV station could come up with was that the selection was uninspired. I think that “full of unwarranted xenophobia” might start to describe that choice.
And of course, to further humiliate the Jewish people, not one person in the audience said a word about the loathsome lyrics. They all listened to the song as mesmerized by its holiday message to worship God, totally ignoring the call to burn Jews.
If even possible, setting aside for a moment what the lyrics conveyed and thinking about the context of Christmas, Yeshua and a Holy God a bit further, I cannot help noticing how ludicrous and oxymoronic the song really was.
Here we are celebrating the birth of the Messiah in a song, and we need to consider the Jewish context in which these events originally took place. The Messiah apparently praised by the Romanian singing group:
• Was born in Bethlehem Ephrata in ancient Israel (Micah 5:2)
• Was from the Jewish Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)
• Was a descendant of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people (Genesis 22:18)
• Was from the line of Jewish king David (1 Chronicles 17:10-14, Isaiah 11:1-2)
• Was prophesied about by many Jewish prophets of the Bible (Numbers 23-24, Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Zechariah 9:9-10; 12:10, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Malachi 3:1)
As a matter of fact there is nothing not Jewish about Yeshua the Messiah, and to celebrate His birth in a song while denigrating the very people he came from shows you the level of hypocrisy, ignorance or stupidity that is required to even try to reconcile the two.
This reminds me of the “Christian” Crusades when in 1099 the Crusaders entered Jerusalem on horses, shoved the Jewish community in its great synagogue, set it ablaze and started singing hymns of adoration to Jesus while circling the synagogue. It is no wonder that my people are so “Gospel-resistant”. What could possibly attract them to Yeshua if presented like the Crusades or in that Romanian anti-Semitic Christmas song?
Yet, in spite of a fallen world increasingly outspoken about their hatred of the Jews and Israel, Yeshua the Messiah was born about 2000 years ago. He was born to eventually die for all. The King of the Jews took on the sins of the world, so that all who accept His free gift can have eternal life in God’s presence (John 1:12).
It would behoove the Romanian people responsible for that song to realize that they worship the Jewish Messiah and that if the Jewish people had ceased to exist, Yeshua would have never entered the scene. Nobody can call himself or herself a Christian and hate the Jews, so it is time for some Romanians to do some serious soul searching while the rest of the world celebrates the birth of Emmanuel (God with us).
They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.” For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant. (Psalm 83:3-5)
Yes it is true but the producer of this show is Adrian Rozenberg Mosaic origin who had the obligation to verify everything. It is not strange? A Jew producer of a show that is anti-Semitic?
I think you are all freakin psycho over there in the middle east. Why don’t you all just humble yourselves before God All men alike whether you be christian, Jew or other. A true believer in God would have to believe that we are all sons and daughters of a supreme being and that if he loves his children as we believe; then shouldn’t we all treat each other as brothers and sisters with the respect and love that our father would have us display???
I felt really justified in my indignation toward a very ungrateful recipient of a lavish gift; I spewed my vitriol in the privacy of my home and car, but what was allowing in my heart? After I read this article it became more clear to me why even justified indignation must be brought to submission to pray for those that curse us and spitefully use us, or it could lead to eventual justification of hatred and persecution of anyone that seems to belong in the group of the offending party. Please forgive me.