irsday, December 7,1989
The Battalion
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bcorating a Christmas tree often calls for a final touch — plac-
ng a papier-mache or wax angel at the top.
Photo by Kathy Haveman
ne of the most famous gifts ever placed under a tree, the
vooden nutcracker toy is changed magically into a prince in
Chaikovsky’s Nutcracker Ballet, which is performed annually at
Christmas time.
^
In many neighborhoods, traditional Christmas more modern trimmings, as on this house
decorations and symbols have given way to which glows with the light of 40,000 bulbs.
Sneeze trees
DALLAS (AP) — Christmas
trees are beautiful, traditional,
and heart-warming. They also
can make you sick.
So says Dr. Timothy Sullivan,
who heads the allergy and immu
nology division at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center at Dallas.
“People with pre-existing aller
gic conditions or respiratory diffi
culty should be aware that if their
symptoms worsen during the hol
iday season, their tree might be
the cause,” Sullivan says.
Sullivan cautions those allergic
to mold to be especially wary of
trees from commercial tree lots,
which he says are breeding
grounds for mold. He adds that
some trees grown for commercial
sale are chemically treated and
can trigger allergic reactions.
On the other hand, cutting
down a live tree has its problems,
too.
One of the most common and
attractive trees in the United
States is the mountain cedar,
which he says causes more respi
ratory allergy among more peo
ple than any other source except
ragweed.
In winter, male mountain ce
dars pollinate, so if one is used
for Christmas, it can release pol
len in the house. To identify fe
male trees, look for those that
produce small blue berries. The
male trees have a characteristic
brownish or golden color during
pollination.
Sullivan is conducting research
about the mountain cedar to de
termine the genetic makeup of
people predisposed to the allergy,
in hopes of developing a vaccine.
‘The Tree’
NEW YORK (AP) — To most
New Yorkers and many Ameri
cans, the Christmas tree in New
York’s Rockefeller Center is “The
Tree.”
As this year’s giant evergreen
from Rockland County, New
York, lights up (with 18,000 col
ored bulbs) in midtown Manhat
tan, it joins a long line of mem
orable trees that began with a
simple tree put up by construc
tion workmen grateful for work
during the Depression.
A 1931 photo shows several
dozen men grouped near the
tree, festooned with droopy
streamers, set up in the rubble of
the demolished brownstones
which stood on the site of today’s
Rockefeller Center. Under the
tree an earthly version of Santa
Claus is pictured handing out the
best thing to come in time for
Christmas during the early
1930s: paychecks.
Two years later the .tree re
turned more formally, set up in
front of the newly completed
RCA Building, the flagship skys
craper of the new center. Since
then, the tree tradition at the
Rockefeller Center has continued
unbyoken — if occasionally al
tered—and is now a prime tour
ist magnet during the holiday sea
son. tr *
Its arrival, hoisting, decoration
and official lighting at the Cen
ter’s skating rink is something of
a ritual in itself, heralded by press
releases, news reports, and tele
vised entertainment. Then, right
after New Year’s, the whole show
comes down and disappears over
night.
Decorations have reflected the
times. During World War II, the
tree was decked with red and
white plastic globes and stars in
stead of lights because of wartime
restrictions on electricity. The
lights feturned in 1945. Similarly,
the number of lights was reduced
in response to the energy crisis in
1973, with colored reflective disks
added to compensate.
Festival of Lights celebrates religious miracle
By Chuck Lovejoy
Of The Battalion Staff
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah
does not suffer from commercializa
tion as does the Christian holiday of
Christmas, a local rabbi says.
Dr. Peter Tarlow, who also tea
ches sociology at Texas A&M, says
advertisers do put pressure on Ha
nukkah gift-buyers, but the em
phasis is not nearly as intense as that
placed on Christmas shoppers.
“Hanukkah is a much less impor
tant holiday in the Jewish religion
than Christmas is to Christianity,” he
says. “So it isn’t affected as much
commercially.”
Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of
Lights. It is celebrated from the eve
ning of the 24th of Kislev to the first
night of Tevet on the Jewish cal
endar.
The observance this year will be
gin on the evening of Dec. 22 and
will end Dec. 29.
According to tradition, the cele
bration of Hanukkah was begun by
Judas Maccabeus and his brothers in
165 B.C.
They commemorated the creation
of a new altar in the Temple of Je-
ruaslem three years after the Syrian
king had desecrated the temple in an
attempt to end the religion.
of Lights in remembrance of that
miracle.
On each of the eight evenings of the
celebration, candles are lighted and
displayed in an eight-branched can
delabra called a menorah.
One candle is lighted the first
night, two the second, and so on un
til the eighth day, when all are ablaze
and displayed prominently in the
house or synagogue.
According to “The Book of Reli
gious Holidays and Celebrations” by
Marguerite Ickis, the eight candles
symbolize eight virtues: faith, free
dom, courage, love, charity, integ
rity, knowledge and peace.
Blessings are said before the can
dles are lighted. Religious carols also
are sung.
Other Hanukkah traditions vary
from country to country, Tarlow
says, but all involve lighting candles
and eat some sort of fried food in re-
mebrance of the oil Judas found in
the temple.
Latkes, or fried potato cakes, are
popular in the United States.
Giving gifts is a popular Hanuk
kah activity, Tarlow says. The Ickis
book lists other events in celebration
of Hanukkah, including parties, spe
cial programs and assemblies and
Hanukkah dances, concerts and dra
matic presentations.
Judas and his family had been
forced into exile after Judas’ father
had killed a Jew who complied with
the king’s decree that Jews must of
fer sacrifices to idols.
When they returned from exile,
they found in the temple a single
container of oil that should have
lasted only one day.
But to their amazement, the oil
provided light for eight days.
The faithful celebrate the Festival
An “Aggie Hanukkah” will be
held at 8 p.m. Friday in the Hillel
Center, located at the corner of Jer
sey and Dexter Streets in College
Station.