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Strollerderby
The First Day of Hannukah With My Not-Quite-Jewish Family
Hannukah begins tonight
I’m not Jewish, but my father is. I’d like to keep that part of our family heritage alive for my kids, but it isn’t easy to do.
My father is Jewish. Since my mom is Catholic we’re not technically Jewish – it’s a matrilineal religion. We’re not practically Jewish either. My dad isn’t religious, and growing up we never celebrated any Jewish holidays, much to my grandmother’s chagrin. Celebrating Jewish holidays with my kids feels like a way to create at least a small link to that side of our family.
As an adult, I’ve become more interested in family heritage. My husband and I are Pagan, and that’s mostly how we raise our kids. We celebrate Christian holidays with my mom, though, and it’s a big treat for the kids to do Christmas and Easter. When they’re older I’ll probably take them to midnight mass.
I don’t want the girls to completely lose the thread of our Jewish he
ritage either. My dad was the only one of his siblings to have kids, so we’re the only keepers of his family stories and culture.
I wouldn’t even know where to begin raising my kids in Jewish traditions, but I do try to celebrate popular Jewish holidays, or at least mark them.
Usually we do this by celebrating with the girls godmother. She’s my oldest childhood friend, a fellow Pagan who was raised in a mixed Jewish & Christian household where they did ALL the holidays. We’ll be joining her in a few hours to light the menorah, sing some songs, and play some games.
How do you keep family cultural traditions alive? Do you have any that skipped a generation like this, that you’ve brought into your own family even though your parents didn’t celebrate them?
Photo: skpy
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0 Comments
Kelly commented on Dec 01 10 at 11:53 pmPagan? Isn’t that a misuse of the term? Shouldn’t it be she and her husband are agnostic?
anon commented on Dec 02 10 at 1:37 amAgnostic, aetheist…pagan? From the Merrian Webster:
heathen 1; especially : a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)
2
: one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person
Ira commented on Dec 02 10 at 11:53 amyou have a problem, especially when it comes to passover, a holiday that celebrates the freeing of jewish slaves from pagan egypt while committing nationwide infanticide.
And is it just your interest? Because it seems that your father isn’t all that interested in it either. Talk to him find out where he sits on the issue. Also if it is just you, then you might want to keep it that way instead of confusing the children and putting too much on your holiday plate. I am Pagan myself, but I think you should explore your roots and find out if you are jewish in faith.
Realist commented on Apr 03 11 at 1:45 pmWhy are you insisting on being something you’re not?
Just concentrate on being, and teach the kids to be, the best person you can be within the parameters of your respective religion, while respecting others and their beliefs.
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