Q. Is there an actual prohibition about deriving any kind of enjoyment from Christmas lights? Can one use them for illumination? Can one comment on their beauty?
A. Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 139: 1) rules that it is prohibited to derive any benefit from anything that is part of an idol, its accompanying adornments or embellishments and the sacrifices or offers dedicated to it. However Christmas lights used for decorating stores or other commercial venues are not in our days an expression of a religion or the symbol of a faith. They are more likely to be used as a business advertiser or a marketing promoter and therefore permitted (Shach Y.D. 142: 32)
Additional considerations to be taken into Halachik account are to what extent are the different factions and sects of Christianity considered Avoda Zarah, and if your common Gentile should be deemed in our times a believer in his nominal faith or more likely an agnostic to it. (Chulin 13b, Ben Ish Chai, Parshas Maasei.) A further factor to take into account is if just benefiting by observing is prohibited or not.
Accordingly enjoying the seasonal lights, commercial displays or the Macy's parade is in principle permitted.
Nonetheless, Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit"a opinion is that one must always bear in mind what those lights and displays historically represent to our people. We should recall how much persecution and suffering throughout the centuries are imbedded in them, before we decide to enjoy their sight or comment on their beauty.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit"a
I don't know if this is because of ignorance or indifference, but I always suffer a certain aversion to entering Sukkos in Eretz Yisroel where they have used authentic Xmas coloured bulbs, that even blink on and off, to enhance their decorations. Now, nobody has included reindeer yet in the display, but as long as they do not include a Tzeilem, is it necessary to apprise them of the history of such lights, or just smile at their naivete?
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