RE: Candy Cane

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

How very, very interesting.  Had no idea about this, but the explanation is 
certainly plausible.   Will check this out with other folklorists.


Reyzl


----------
From:  robert wiener[SMTP:wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com]
Sent:  Tuesday, December 15, 1998 2:54 PM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant.
Subject:  Candy Cane

-----Original Message-----
From: Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl (at) flash(dot)net>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Cc: wiener, susan <Susan(dot)Wiener (at) us(dot)schroders(dot)com>; wiener, 
jack ralph
<Jack_Wiener (at) dtc(dot)org>; gold, jacqueline sabina <gold (at) 
tfn(dot)com>; androphy,
ronald l. <roandrophy (at) JTSA(dot)EDU>; androphy, ezra <era11 (at) 
columbia(dot)edu>
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 1998 1:34 PM
Subject: RE: Holiday Music


>Appreciate the aesthetic beauty of Christmas music, but be mindful that
even
>something as apparently innocuous as the red stripe of the candy cane
>symbolizes the blood of Jesus.

Never heard that that's what the candy cane symbolizes.  Where did get this?



Reyzl,

Here is text from only one of the many web sites discussing the history of
the candy cane.

http://www.familybible.org/CandyCane.html
A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so
he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the
birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.

He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the
Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the
Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of
God.  The candymaker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the
precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also
represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which He reaches down into
the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep,
have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with
red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the
scourging Jesus received by which we are healed.  The large red stripe was
for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise
of eternal life.

Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane - a meaningless
decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those
who "have eyes to see and ears to hear."

I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness to the wonder of Jesus
and His great love that came down at Christmas and remains the ultimate and
dominant force in the universe today.

Copyright (c) 1997, 1998 by Rickard L. Sawyer and/or Family Bible Church.  All
materials on this website are protected under United States and
international copyright laws and may not be reproduced or copied in any form
or by any means without the express permission of the copyright holder.

(I believe that this use is fair use.)

Also see: http://www.crosswalk.com/advent/15.htm
    http://www.erols.com/rpdigest/01792.htm

A somewhat different story is told at:
http://www.bobscandies.com/html/the_cane_s_symbolism.html

For information on other Christmas symbols (such as the green and red of the
holly) see http://www.noeleternel.com/folklorea.htm

Perhaps someone out there is better at doing internet research on such a
topic and can find a more authoritative source.

But, whether these sites tell the historical truth or not, they do tell us
the significance of these symbols to believing Christians.

Bob






>I believe that there is
>a Jewish tradition and a Christian tradition, but no Judeo-Christian
>tradition.  That is the message of Hanukah to me.

I totally agree, but you don't need to get offended by the attempt for store
owners to be politically correct.  It's difficult for them and things get
confusing.   I have had to explain to friends that I don't send out or
reciprocate Hanukah cards we receive because that is not a Jewish tradition.
My neighbors get Christmas cards and holiday greetings, but Jews get nothing
and I don't want anything either.  My kids get/got no Hanukah gifts only a
one-time giving of Hanukah gelt unless it's a Jewish book or CD.  No ands,
buts, or ors about that.
There is the constant attempt to equalize Hanukah with Christmas in America
which is very offensive to me as a Jew, a holiday that celebrates the
refusal to assimilate.   Why don't they make a fuss about Shavuous, a
holiday that deserves a fuss, but most Americans haven't even heard of it.
Maybe that's what we can do, gather/build new repertoires for Shavuous.
Jews in Europe used to decorate the insides of their homes with greenery and
(sephardic tradition) roses the way non-Jews do their homes at Christmas
time, but this tradition seems to have been totally forgotten in America.


Reyzl





----------
From:  robert wiener[SMTP:wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com]
Sent:  Tuesday, December 15, 1998 7:27 AM
To:  World music from a Jewish slant.
Cc:  wiener, susan; wiener, jack ralph; gold, jacqueline sabina; androphy,
ronald l.; androphy, ezra
Subject:  Holiday Music

I hate going into record stores this time of year.  Even before
Thanksgiving, Tower has a display of "Holiday Music".  The label offends me.
Maybe it is an attempt to be multi-cultural, acknowledge diversity, and not
offend non-Christians.  But I don't think so, and that is not the effect on
me.

In fact, "Holiday Music" is simply the politically correct term for
"Christmas Music".  Enter the emporium, look at the CDs on the wall(even on
Manhattan's Upper West Side), and count how many Hanukah (or Kwanzaa)
recordings there are.

This is no competition (and as our discussion of Hanukah recordings shows,
general record stores carry only a tiny portion of what is available), but
these displays (and the way Hanukah is depicted in the media) makes it seem
that we're all in this holiday season together, that it is something that we
have in common.

Perhaps some Jews feel left out of the seasonal festivities.  If so, I think
that's a good thing.  Hanukah is not the Jewish Christmas.  Even to display
Hanukah recordings prominently in a Holiday Music section elevates it above
the many more important Jewish holidays and thus demeans them.   I hope that
we as Jews don't feel the need to mimic Christian practices to feel proud of
our own heritage.  (One of my students was shocked when I asserted that
giving a present each night of Hanukah is about as Jewish as a Hanukah
bush.)

Appreciate the aesthetic beauty of Christmas music, but be mindful that even
something as apparently innocuous as the red stripe of the candy cane
symbolizes the blood of Jesus.  Even if Christians claim that they are the
"new Israel" that doesn't make us the "old Israel".  I believe that there is
a Jewish tradition and a Christian tradition, but no Judeo-Christian
tradition.  That is the message of Hanukah to me.

Bob Wiener