Update on Sea-Tac Christmas Trees

Last night I had the story about Seattle-Tacoma airport's decision to remove all their Christmas decorations, and now we know what started it all:

SEATAC, Wash. — For people flying in and out of the Seattle area, there will be no holiday spirit to accompany the holiday travel season.

In response to a rabbi's request to add an 8-foot menorah to holiday decorations, officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead decided to remove all nine Christmas trees.

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky made the request weeks ago, when he demanded officials add a menorah next to the trees and threatened to file a lawsuit if his request wasn't honored.

Instead, officials decided to remove holiday decorations as a whole. Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.

"We decided to take the trees down because we didn't want to be exclusive," said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. "We're trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year."

Bogomilsky said he was appalled by the decision.

"Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season," said Bogomilsky, who works at Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation headquartered in Seattle's University District.

After consulting with lawyers, port staff believed that adding the menorah would have required adding symbols for other religions and cultures in the Northwest. The holidays are the busiest season at the airport, Betancourt said, and staff didn't have time to play cultural anthropologists.

Hanukkah begins this Friday at sundown.

"They've darkened the hall instead of turning the lights up," said his lawyer, Harvey Grad. "There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch."

Perhaps if the rabbi hadn't threatened a lawsuit, the Grinch moniker wouldn't be appropriate, but given the circumstances, he might want to look for a green suit.

By the way, Christmas trees have about as much meaning to Christianity as does the Easter bunny. They do not represent the Christian religion (they were a pagan invention), while the menorrah clearly does represent the Jewish faith. There would be much more evidence to support the removal of a menorrah than a Christmas tree.

UPDATE: The trees are back.