Raising a Jewish kid with one Jewish/one atheist parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the non-Jew in this scenario and the mom! It’s not been hard at all. We do holidays, talk about being Jewish and family history, and are preparing for the bar mitzvah. We still do Christmas to the hilt but that seems to make no difference for my kid’s Jewish identity

Lol it sure is easy when nothing matters! I bet this PP loves to make a #HappyEastover Instagram post and is excited for the college fund contributions at the bar mitzvah.

so let me get this straight … you would have thought it better that my kid had no Jewish identity, vs having a non-Jewish parent who puts a lot of effort into it but also does (secular) Christmas?

I was responding to the tone of your post. OP is struggling with passing on their cultural heritage to their child in a mixed family. You are not of that heritage, but jump in with "oh it's easy! We just celebrated all the holidays and everyone is happy!"

OP is talking about something deeper than that, but since you aren't Jewish and I guess view your husband's and kid's Judaism as a fun excuse to have a party, you don't get that.

If you'd written a more thoughtful post about how you and your spouse have spoken with your child about their Jewishness, and specifically what kind of COMMUNITY you have provided around their Jewishness, people would not have responded as negatively. You sound unserious and so does your approach to religion and culture.

The person who was responding most negatively was apparently not even Jewish, and other posters people think my kid will never be Jewish anyway due to my gender. I think other people probably have more good faith to understand what I meant. And FWIW “fun excuse to have a party” is a big way that you create a religious identity. The word “party” is a little flip here (and one I never used BTW) - but communal events involving food are basically the backbone of religious celebrations that give children idenities.

When I started on my “journey” of raising a Jewish kid as an atheist ex-Catholic I didn’t really have any plan. My point to OP was that it ended up being not hard at all to create a Jewish child. I’m struggling to see how that offended anyone other than people looking to be offended for various reasons.

I get that the Christmas thing can be a trigger but my point in mentioning it is that my experience is that you don’t have to fear that allowing any non-Jewish elements into your household will mean your child doesn’t feel Jewish. I get that some people don’t want it at all, which is totally fine and understandable. in my case, the Jewish side of the family always celebrated Christmas and would have thought I was nuts (and probably a little supercilious) to prohibit it. I imagine that a lot of interfaith families have to negotiate the Christmas thing and my only point is that given everything else we do, celebrating Christmas has not confused my child about being Jewish at all, if that is a concern.

Look, I am the PP you are currently responding to, I AM Jewish, and I never said anything about your kid not being Jewish because of matrilineage. I'm reform, I don't care about that.

I AS A JEW found your initial comment and all of your responses extremely flippant and obnoxious. Religion is not about parties, and while food and coming together is important, there are a number of Jewish traditions that are much more somber than that and it's not just Jewish cosplay with some latkes.

You married into a Jewish family that celebrated Christmas and always has. Let's start there. This is not a universal experience.

I think your experience is "easy" because neither you nor your spouse is particularly religious, your spouse and his family don't have any real concerns about embracing aspects of Christian culture (this is not typical even among reform families) and therefore you haven't had to do any work.

But let me ask you this. You waltzed into this thread about raising a Jewish child in a mixed family, asserted it's easy and that your Jewish family lives Christmas, but have also been extremely defensive and are calling everyone ELSE rude for not congratulating you on figuring out how to do it.

Maybe do some introspection here and consider that just because you married a Jewish guy, you might not have it all figured out and maybe have less to contribute to a conversation about passing on Jewish culture than others do. You just sound incredibly entitled and flip. Which, by the way, isn't very Jewish.

wow ok, thanks. you seem motivated by something other than the honest input of how a family with non-Jewish parent can significantly contribute to the Jewish upbringing of their child. the “Jewish cosplay” think was a bit much. I’m sorry you’re mad that I didn’t find it difficult. I suspect that what you actually believe is that my child is not Jewish because I am not and because we do Christmas. I am saddened by this but I guess OP should take it as one piece of information.

Your an "atheist" who does Christmas to the hilt. You married a Jewish man who loves Christmas. You believe celebrating a few of the fun Jewish holidays (I'm guessing you don't do Yom Kippur "to the hilt") and telling your kid "you're Jewish! Your grandparents were also Jewish!) is good enough.

Cosplay is apt.

Again, I’m glad my actual family & community is more accepting than you are. Seriously what are you getting out of harassing me?

It is more than one poster “harassing” you.

OP is a Jew seeking advice from other Jews on how to raise a good Jew in a mixed family while respecting the non-Jew. You are the non-Jew. You’re not the one anyone wants to hear from. Simply stunning that you can’t understand that.

Simply stunning that you think you are doing anything to further the cause of interfaith families and “respecting the non-Jew.”

Again, I am NOT a Jew. I’m simply self-aware enough to know that I’m not the one OP wants to hear from.

Well that’s for OP to say. OP literally asked how to raise a Jewish child while respecting her non-Jewish spouse’s identity. I think my response as the non-Jewish spouse (with an identical background, atheist ex-Catholic) was germane. The point being that I have never found it inconvenient or felt disrespected at all aside from some initial tension over circumcision. The most disrespect I’ve gotten is here, right now, with the implication that the things I do are “cosplay” and that my DH himself is apparently not Jewish enough because he likes Christmas. If the endgame here is fewer Jews as more Jews intermarry, great job. But like I said, I have never experienced in person the attacks I am getting here.

No one is attacking you. You said something that was dismissive and rude to Jewish people, and when you were rightly criticized for it, you dug in and yelled at everyone. No one here is suggesting that Jews not intermarry.

Your defensiveness about the "cosplay" accusation is telling. Ask yourself why it bothers you so much.

I’m Jewish and didn’t find anything she wrote dismissive or rude. You don’t speak for all Jews and frankly your vitriol is making you look bad. I’d say you’re making Jews look bad, but again, one person’s actions or beliefs do not define the whole group.

You are entitled to your opinion, but the idea that objecting to this woman's flippant response to OP makes Jews look bad? I wasn't one of the posters saying her kids aren't Jewish (I don't believe that and I think it's weirdly tribalistic ) but I do think she should have taken a second to think about the wisdom of claiming it's "easy" to raise culturally Jewish kids, as a non Jewish, in the same breath that she claims to do Christmas "to the hilt." Someone does look bad in this scenario and it's not Jews.

I also have to say that talking about how easy it is to raise Jewish kids THIS week, of all weeks, is extremely weird. I don't know about you but this has been a tough one for my mixed-Jewish family. So I was very much not in the mood to be told by a lapsed Catholic how "not hard" it is to raise Jews just as I'm working out how to talk about what is happening in Israel with my Jewish kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the non-Jew in this scenario and the mom! It’s not been hard at all. We do holidays, talk about being Jewish and family history, and are preparing for the bar mitzvah. We still do Christmas to the hilt but that seems to make no difference for my kid’s Jewish identity

Lol it sure is easy when nothing matters! I bet this PP loves to make a #HappyEastover Instagram post and is excited for the college fund contributions at the bar mitzvah.

so let me get this straight … you would have thought it better that my kid had no Jewish identity, vs having a non-Jewish parent who puts a lot of effort into it but also does (secular) Christmas?

I was responding to the tone of your post. OP is struggling with passing on their cultural heritage to their child in a mixed family. You are not of that heritage, but jump in with "oh it's easy! We just celebrated all the holidays and everyone is happy!"

OP is talking about something deeper than that, but since you aren't Jewish and I guess view your husband's and kid's Judaism as a fun excuse to have a party, you don't get that.

If you'd written a more thoughtful post about how you and your spouse have spoken with your child about their Jewishness, and specifically what kind of COMMUNITY you have provided around their Jewishness, people would not have responded as negatively. You sound unserious and so does your approach to religion and culture.

The person who was responding most negatively was apparently not even Jewish, and other posters people think my kid will never be Jewish anyway due to my gender. I think other people probably have more good faith to understand what I meant. And FWIW “fun excuse to have a party” is a big way that you create a religious identity. The word “party” is a little flip here (and one I never used BTW) - but communal events involving food are basically the backbone of religious celebrations that give children idenities.

When I started on my “journey” of raising a Jewish kid as an atheist ex-Catholic I didn’t really have any plan. My point to OP was that it ended up being not hard at all to create a Jewish child. I’m struggling to see how that offended anyone other than people looking to be offended for various reasons.

I get that the Christmas thing can be a trigger but my point in mentioning it is that my experience is that you don’t have to fear that allowing any non-Jewish elements into your household will mean your child doesn’t feel Jewish. I get that some people don’t want it at all, which is totally fine and understandable. in my case, the Jewish side of the family always celebrated Christmas and would have thought I was nuts (and probably a little supercilious) to prohibit it. I imagine that a lot of interfaith families have to negotiate the Christmas thing and my only point is that given everything else we do, celebrating Christmas has not confused my child about being Jewish at all, if that is a concern.

Look, I am the PP you are currently responding to, I AM Jewish, and I never said anything about your kid not being Jewish because of matrilineage. I'm reform, I don't care about that.

I AS A JEW found your initial comment and all of your responses extremely flippant and obnoxious. Religion is not about parties, and while food and coming together is important, there are a number of Jewish traditions that are much more somber than that and it's not just Jewish cosplay with some latkes.

You married into a Jewish family that celebrated Christmas and always has. Let's start there. This is not a universal experience.

I think your experience is "easy" because neither you nor your spouse is particularly religious, your spouse and his family don't have any real concerns about embracing aspects of Christian culture (this is not typical even among reform families) and therefore you haven't had to do any work.

But let me ask you this. You waltzed into this thread about raising a Jewish child in a mixed family, asserted it's easy and that your Jewish family lives Christmas, but have also been extremely defensive and are calling everyone ELSE rude for not congratulating you on figuring out how to do it.

Maybe do some introspection here and consider that just because you married a Jewish guy, you might not have it all figured out and maybe have less to contribute to a conversation about passing on Jewish culture than others do. You just sound incredibly entitled and flip. Which, by the way, isn't very Jewish.

wow ok, thanks. you seem motivated by something other than the honest input of how a family with non-Jewish parent can significantly contribute to the Jewish upbringing of their child. the “Jewish cosplay” think was a bit much. I’m sorry you’re mad that I didn’t find it difficult. I suspect that what you actually believe is that my child is not Jewish because I am not and because we do Christmas. I am saddened by this but I guess OP should take it as one piece of information.

Your an "atheist" who does Christmas to the hilt. You married a Jewish man who loves Christmas. You believe celebrating a few of the fun Jewish holidays (I'm guessing you don't do Yom Kippur "to the hilt") and telling your kid "you're Jewish! Your grandparents were also Jewish!) is good enough.

Cosplay is apt.

Again, I’m glad my actual family & community is more accepting than you are. Seriously what are you getting out of harassing me?

It is more than one poster “harassing” you.

OP is a Jew seeking advice from other Jews on how to raise a good Jew in a mixed family while respecting the non-Jew. You are the non-Jew. You’re not the one anyone wants to hear from. Simply stunning that you can’t understand that.

Simply stunning that you think you are doing anything to further the cause of interfaith families and “respecting the non-Jew.”

Again, I am NOT a Jew. I’m simply self-aware enough to know that I’m not the one OP wants to hear from.

Well that’s for OP to say. OP literally asked how to raise a Jewish child while respecting her non-Jewish spouse’s identity. I think my response as the non-Jewish spouse (with an identical background, atheist ex-Catholic) was germane. The point being that I have never found it inconvenient or felt disrespected at all aside from some initial tension over circumcision. The most disrespect I’ve gotten is here, right now, with the implication that the things I do are “cosplay” and that my DH himself is apparently not Jewish enough because he likes Christmas. If the endgame here is fewer Jews as more Jews intermarry, great job. But like I said, I have never experienced in person the attacks I am getting here.

No one is attacking you. You said something that was dismissive and rude to Jewish people, and when you were rightly criticized for it, you dug in and yelled at everyone. No one here is suggesting that Jews not intermarry.

Your defensiveness about the "cosplay" accusation is telling. Ask yourself why it bothers you so much.

I’m Jewish and didn’t find anything she wrote dismissive or rude. You don’t speak for all Jews and frankly your vitriol is making you look bad. I’d say you’re making Jews look bad, but again, one person’s actions or beliefs do not define the whole group.

Again, it’s not just Jews who found her dismissive . . .

Frankly I find their opinions even more irrelevant! If you’re one of them, maybe check yourself on why you’re on this thread.

No one’s opinion is irrelevant. I also think you’re a sock puppet.

+1, I think this is either the former Catholic PP sock puppeting to defend herself, or potentially her DH, who apparently demanded they celebrate Christmas in the biggest way possible.

I struggle to believe that many Jews would bother to defend her on this thread. I still don't get why she doesn't just recognize she made an error in judgment with her tone and the weird emphasis on how much her Jewish family lives Christmas. WTF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there so much arguing on this thread?

Most of it was with the Christian woman who thinks she’s great at raising Jewish kids. She struck a nerve by being so cavalier. She’s annoying.

I see threads all the time by non-Christian posters who tell Christians how they as non-Christians are great at everything and know so much more about Christianity. It’s annoying too. Somehow we are told it’s not respectful and outright bigoted and hypocritical for not accepting their point of view.

No Christians are being persecuted in this thread.

Who claimed that? Who is being persecuted in this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there so much arguing on this thread?

Most of it was with the Christian woman who thinks she’s great at raising Jewish kids. She struck a nerve by being so cavalier. She’s annoying.

I see threads all the time by non-Christian posters who tell Christians how they as non-Christians are great at everything and know so much more about Christianity. It’s annoying too. Somehow we are told it’s not respectful and outright bigoted and hypocritical for not accepting their point of view.

No Christians are being persecuted in this thread.

Who claimed that? Who is being persecuted in this thread?

DP, I think this is a reference to the poster who said those of us who were bothered by the "I'm not Jewish but raising Jewish kids is easy and also haha we LOVE Christmas" poster, who said we were angry about the idea of a Jewish man having a Christmas tree? This PP called us bigots. This was when I became convinced that the non-Jewish/Christmas poster had told her Jewish husband about the thread and he came here to yell at us for being mean to his wife, I think.

It's been a really weird thread!

[Anonymous]

No idea why this thread is so crazy- jewish camp and preschool would be my strongest recommendations and if you're okay with a synagogue look for a Reform one ( I was raised reform, went to reform preschool, camp, etc). My mother in law is very active with machar

[Anonymous]

Similar family here, we sent our kid to Chabad summer camps. He loved them. They don't care who goes to synagogue (they don't even have a synagogue).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I join a reform synagogue and I think it's fine for your situation fwiw.

What you suggest is also ok. Are the grandparents around - ever want to go to synagogue with them if you don't want to join? Or you can also occasionally go to Chabad.

Judaism basically aligns with positive psychology:
https://reformjudaism.org/how-judaism-and-positive-psychology-make-excellent-bedfellows

The URJ camps take kids who don't belong to synagogue.

I wouldn't go to Chabad, since it's orthodox and OP is not religious. Try:
Israeli culture programs, Jewish summer camps, non-denominational Jewish Youth groups (like bnai brith), food, Jewish movies.

Strongly disagree about Chabad. We are not at all religious and loved Chabad. I found it much more easy going and welcoming than the big Reform synagogues, which, honestly, felt sort of judgmental and clique-y.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the non-Jew in this scenario and the mom! It’s not been hard at all. We do holidays, talk about being Jewish and family history, and are preparing for the bar mitzvah. We still do Christmas to the hilt but that seems to make no difference for my kid’s Jewish identity

Lol it sure is easy when nothing matters! I bet this PP loves to make a #HappyEastover Instagram post and is excited for the college fund contributions at the bar mitzvah.

so let me get this straight … you would have thought it better that my kid had no Jewish identity, vs having a non-Jewish parent who puts a lot of effort into it but also does (secular) Christmas?

I was responding to the tone of your post. OP is struggling with passing on their cultural heritage to their child in a mixed family. You are not of that heritage, but jump in with "oh it's easy! We just celebrated all the holidays and everyone is happy!"

OP is talking about something deeper than that, but since you aren't Jewish and I guess view your husband's and kid's Judaism as a fun excuse to have a party, you don't get that.

If you'd written a more thoughtful post about how you and your spouse have spoken with your child about their Jewishness, and specifically what kind of COMMUNITY you have provided around their Jewishness, people would not have responded as negatively. You sound unserious and so does your approach to religion and culture.

The person who was responding most negatively was apparently not even Jewish, and other posters people think my kid will never be Jewish anyway due to my gender. I think other people probably have more good faith to understand what I meant. And FWIW “fun excuse to have a party” is a big way that you create a religious identity. The word “party” is a little flip here (and one I never used BTW) - but communal events involving food are basically the backbone of religious celebrations that give children idenities.

When I started on my “journey” of raising a Jewish kid as an atheist ex-Catholic I didn’t really have any plan. My point to OP was that it ended up being not hard at all to create a Jewish child. I’m struggling to see how that offended anyone other than people looking to be offended for various reasons.

I get that the Christmas thing can be a trigger but my point in mentioning it is that my experience is that you don’t have to fear that allowing any non-Jewish elements into your household will mean your child doesn’t feel Jewish. I get that some people don’t want it at all, which is totally fine and understandable. in my case, the Jewish side of the family always celebrated Christmas and would have thought I was nuts (and probably a little supercilious) to prohibit it. I imagine that a lot of interfaith families have to negotiate the Christmas thing and my only point is that given everything else we do, celebrating Christmas has not confused my child about being Jewish at all, if that is a concern.

Look, I am the PP you are currently responding to, I AM Jewish, and I never said anything about your kid not being Jewish because of matrilineage. I'm reform, I don't care about that.

I AS A JEW found your initial comment and all of your responses extremely flippant and obnoxious. Religion is not about parties, and while food and coming together is important, there are a number of Jewish traditions that are much more somber than that and it's not just Jewish cosplay with some latkes.

You married into a Jewish family that celebrated Christmas and always has. Let's start there. This is not a universal experience.

I think your experience is "easy" because neither you nor your spouse is particularly religious, your spouse and his family don't have any real concerns about embracing aspects of Christian culture (this is not typical even among reform families) and therefore you haven't had to do any work.

But let me ask you this. You waltzed into this thread about raising a Jewish child in a mixed family, asserted it's easy and that your Jewish family lives Christmas, but have also been extremely defensive and are calling everyone ELSE rude for not congratulating you on figuring out how to do it.

Maybe do some introspection here and consider that just because you married a Jewish guy, you might not have it all figured out and maybe have less to contribute to a conversation about passing on Jewish culture than others do. You just sound incredibly entitled and flip. Which, by the way, isn't very Jewish.

wow ok, thanks. you seem motivated by something other than the honest input of how a family with non-Jewish parent can significantly contribute to the Jewish upbringing of their child. the “Jewish cosplay” think was a bit much. I’m sorry you’re mad that I didn’t find it difficult. I suspect that what you actually believe is that my child is not Jewish because I am not and because we do Christmas. I am saddened by this but I guess OP should take it as one piece of information.

Your an "atheist" who does Christmas to the hilt. You married a Jewish man who loves Christmas. You believe celebrating a few of the fun Jewish holidays (I'm guessing you don't do Yom Kippur "to the hilt") and telling your kid "you're Jewish! Your grandparents were also Jewish!) is good enough.

Cosplay is apt.

Again, I’m glad my actual family & community is more accepting than you are. Seriously what are you getting out of harassing me?

It is more than one poster “harassing” you.

OP is a Jew seeking advice from other Jews on how to raise a good Jew in a mixed family while respecting the non-Jew. You are the non-Jew. You’re not the one anyone wants to hear from. Simply stunning that you can’t understand that.

Simply stunning that you think you are doing anything to further the cause of interfaith families and “respecting the non-Jew.”

Again, I am NOT a Jew. I’m simply self-aware enough to know that I’m not the one OP wants to hear from.

Well that’s for OP to say. OP literally asked how to raise a Jewish child while respecting her non-Jewish spouse’s identity. I think my response as the non-Jewish spouse (with an identical background, atheist ex-Catholic) was germane. The point being that I have never found it inconvenient or felt disrespected at all aside from some initial tension over circumcision. The most disrespect I’ve gotten is here, right now, with the implication that the things I do are “cosplay” and that my DH himself is apparently not Jewish enough because he likes Christmas. If the endgame here is fewer Jews as more Jews intermarry, great job. But like I said, I have never experienced in person the attacks I am getting here.

It's DCUM. This is where you come if you want personal attacks and rudeness. Who knows if any of these people posting are even Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to throw in some moral support. My wife and I are both cashews (half catholic, half Jewish) and decided a few years ago that we wanted to give our children a better understanding of their Jewish heritage than we had. We were both raised with virtually no religious beliefs or community, but decided to join a Reform synagogue and send our children to religious school. It's been a wonderful experience for them. But at times it can feel a little uncomfortable for us since we just didn't have the same experience as kids and many of the rituals/prayers/customs are alien to us. But we just go with the flow and it's slowly gotten easier for us. It is helpful that the congregation welcomes us with open arms despite our lack of knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I join a reform synagogue and I think it's fine for your situation fwiw.

What you suggest is also ok. Are the grandparents around - ever want to go to synagogue with them if you don't want to join? Or you can also occasionally go to Chabad.

Judaism basically aligns with positive psychology:
https://reformjudaism.org/how-judaism-and-positive-psychology-make-excellent-bedfellows

The URJ camps take kids who don't belong to synagogue.

I wouldn't go to Chabad, since it's orthodox and OP is not religious. Try:
Israeli culture programs, Jewish summer camps, non-denominational Jewish Youth groups (like bnai brith), food, Jewish movies.

Strongly disagree about Chabad. We are not at all religious and loved Chabad. I found it much more easy going and welcoming than the big Reform synagogues, which, honestly, felt sort of judgmental and clique-y.

My kids are too young for this yet, but I've got a friend with pre-teens who felt like you did and happily participated in Chabad stuff, felt welcomed there, etc. And then her kid started coming home from Chabad youth group stuff singing about moshiach. And then he started telling his parents that there are things that boys are supposed to do and things that girls are supposed to do. And that's when they pulled the plug on their Chabad involvement. I think for fully-formed adults who know what they want from their Judaism and are comfortable with their Jewish selves are probably fine at Chabad, but I wouldn't use Chabad to help educate my kids about Judaism in their formative years.

[Anonymous]

I am not Jewish, but my dad was. I am not Christian, but my husband and kids are. I do want my kids to be aware of their interfaith heritage, so we do PJ library and use that as a jumping off point to talk about Jewish family history and traditions. I'd recommend joining PJ library.

[Anonymous]

If your husband was baptized, did communion and confirmation etc. he is Catholic. You can’t un-Catholic yourself.

You are obviously not Jewish. No real Jew would say “Jewish Camps”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your husband was baptized, did communion and confirmation etc. he is Catholic. You can’t un-Catholic yourself.

You are obviously not Jewish. No real Jew would say “Jewish Camps”

OP here. What a bizarre comment. Catholics may consider my husband to still be Catholic, but he himself doesn't and that's what's important. I most definitely am Jewish. Did you want me to say Camp Ramah (where I went as a kid) instead of Jewish camp?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. My husband is an atheist Jew. I am an agnostic Christian. We (like another PP) celebrate Xmas in a secular way.

We raise our kids Jewish by:
1) teaching them Hebrew (my husband knows it)
2) sending them to Jewish preschool and now Hebrew school (they will have their bar and bat mitzvot)
3) reaffirming they are Jews, not Christians, and focusing on that very strongly as part of their identity
4) visiting Israel several times
5) learning about and celebrating holidays (my husband doesn’t really know about them), including through the Days United subscription box (highly recommend)
6) doing Shabbat with candles, prayers, challah, etc.
7) joining a synagogue and going for major holidays (when they were little, we would do the family Shabbat services)
8) listening to Hebrew music, especially pop music 😂
9) sending them to Jewish day camps

As I said, they do celebrate Xmas (and Easter) but do not seem at all confused about the fact that they’re Jewish. They are super proud of it and are very connected to it, in some ways more than my husband, who grew up in a super secular and nonpracticing household.

[Anonymous]

Immediate Pp here. We also love PJ Library!