JustASC

Woody Allen interviewed in the Times:

Asked on Tuesday morning if it was appropriate to wish him a happy Jewish New Year, Woody Allen made it clear that such formalities were not necessary. “No, no, no,” he said with a chuckle, seated in an office suite at the Loews Regency hotel. “That’s for your people,” he told this reporter. “I don’t follow it. I wish I could get with it. It would be a big help on those dark nights.”

I can’t begrudge Allen his alienation from Judaism — that’s his issue and he’s entitled to it. And the author did ask. But what kind of nudnik just can’t respond, “Thanks, you too” and be done with it?

Hell, every December people wish me a Merry Christmas, and I’m happy to say “Thanks, you too.”  I don’t see it as a huge theological dilemma or compromise. It’s just the menschy thing to do.