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| Our New Tradition: Lighting the menorah in the fireplace so we don't burn down the house. |
On
the third day of Hanukkah my six-year old daughter came home and proclaimed: “I
hate Hanukkah!”
I
was stunned. To be quite honest I was a
little bit offended and kinda surprised that she was my kid.
She
had been learning about different holiday traditions in school. One of the parents of a classmate was
scheduled the next day to come in and tell stories, make latkes and share how
their family celebrates Hanukkah. My
daughter was adamant that she was absolutely not going to attend.
What
I discovered after a full interrogation was that the reason for her intense
hatred of this sacred tradition was because she didn’t want to eat latkes. Because she hates tomatoes. That’s right – tomatoes. After my uncontrollable laughter subsided I
explained that latkes are potato pancakes.
That’s right – potatoes. There
were no tomatoes in them at all. And also,
she didn’t have to eat them. Novel
concept – she had the right to choose. I
could see the wheels turning. Now was
the perfect time to teach.
So
out came the Jewish Traditions book. Out
came the recipes and music. Out came the
menorah and candles.
As
we lit and blessed the candles we talked about the Festival of Light. We talked about the story in the Talmud and
how the Temple was purified and the wicks of the menorah miraculously burned
for eight days, even though there was only enough sacred oil for one day's
lighting.
We
sang Ma’oz Tzur and I was thrilled to relax with my family while
the candles burned. As we reveled in our
new tradition the questions began.
“Mom,
are you Jewish?”
“No,
but I should be.” That’s another story
for another day. Nobody gets it.
“Mom,
does Santa come to all kids? Even kids
who don’t celebrate Christmas?”
“Santa
respects all cultures and traditions.” And
they knowingly agreed: “Yah.”
At
school my daughter celebrated with her classmate and his parents. She didn’t eat the latkes but she did play
dreidel and was truly thankful for her gelt (chocolate money). She then announced to her class that our
family doesn’t celebrate Christmas and we don’t celebrate Hanukkah either. We only celebrate the fun stuff!
Last
night my son was teaching me that Santa was 800 years old when he chose the night
that Baby Jesus would be born. He had
been out in his sleigh and spotted the bright star in the sky that signified
the birth of the new born King. As I
listened, I knew I had more teaching to do but I’ve decided to save that for
the day I dispel the myth that only married people have babies.
For now we're just going to enjoy the fun stuff!
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| Merry Christmas from our house to yours! |
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