Do your Jewish kids feel jealous of all the hype that's around Christmas? If so, what do you do to make them feel good about your holidays and traditions?
I know that as a non-Jewish child I was envious of my Jewish friends receiving a gift each day for 8 days, I thought that was so cool!!
I think for starters, Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah" song is in order
K. do you use these questions as fodder for your blog? If you do, I think that's fine but you may want to preface this in your question(s). Many of your questions seem to have this research-like tone to them. You should be clear in a post like this that you and your children are not Jewish. I don't mind sharing personal information for research purposes and I'm sure that others here are willing to share their stories as well, but I like to know when I'm being polled or interviewed vs. giving a real person advice for a situation that he or she is dealing with.
I'm catholic, and I was always jealous of my jewish friends. They got 8 days of presents and we only got one. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
If it makes you feel any better, as a Christian I am jealous of your richly spiritual feasts. Where as our "sacred holidays" are not only not biblically mandated, but have been demeaned to meer commercialism. They could be richly spiritual, but mostly are not. Just the other day I was feeling jealous of you wishing we could trade Hollidays.
Just responded to your other question. If your kids believe in Santa then aren't they participating in some of the hype? No judgement, just curious :)
I have to smile...and share a secret...
My best friends growing, were these Jewish brother's.
The WHOLE Neighborhood of KIDS were Jealous of them....Because they got to celebrate Hanukkah.
Every morning every kid from our group would call and see what they had gotten the night before.
I always had thought about maybe switching the holidays up one year. For educational purposes for my kids.
So not grand advice on what you can do to comfort...but maybe you can tell the kiddo that their are kids out there just as enchanted about Hanukkah.
Cause you cannot change the fact that your are Jewish. so show them it is ok to embrace it:)
...plenty of non-Christians celebrate it because they don't take the meaning of Christmas into account. Not something I do, I'm Christian and celebrate it for the real reason, but it has become quite secular.
Hanukkah is a great holiday, and can be really fun, I think!!
We live in a heavily Jewish community, so for us the question is do my kids feel jealous of their Jewish friends when THEY get 8 days and nights of celebrations and gifts? Or when their friends get massive parties for their Bat or Bar Mitzvahs? And the answer is: no, they do not get jealous. We have our own family traditions and celebrations which we wouldn't trade for anything. My daughter sings in the chorus at school. I asked her the other day if they were singing a lot of Christmas songs right now. She said "Um...no, but we're singing a lot of Hannukah (sp?) songs." I love that she's being exposed to something outside of her own experiences!
We make our Holy Days very special. There is no jealousy issue.
Had a giggle -- my 1st grader came home last week and informed us that she wanted to be Jewish so she could have Hanukkah like her best friend!
QueenoftheCastle - I love that Adam Sandler song!
If it were me I'd probably still do Santa and gifts (in addition to Hanukkah). I had a Jewish mom friend who did that. Then again they were not Orthodox or Conservative to my knowledge.
Good luck and I hope you guys have fun with it!
I am Jewish and when I was a kid I didn't mind not celebrating Christmas but everyone I went to school with celebrated Christmas and as a child I hated being different or feeling like you didn't fit in and the teacher always made me tell everyone about Chanukah - which was the worst. My husband is not Jewish and we celebrate both -I don't really go into the religious stuff about Christmas its more about the tree, Santa the Elf on the Shelf etc - fun stuff that kids love and just all of us being together celebrating our family for the most part. She loves celebrating both - when she gets older maybe we will celebrate Festivus! LOL
I'm not Jewish, but I've celebrated Hanukkah with my Jewish friends, and thought the menora and the food and so many nights of it (plus a gift every night) was really cool. Maybe better than one day of Christmas? (I think it's 8 days - I should look it up!)
I taught my classes the Dreidel Song. We loved that!
Dawn
On one level, both Chanukah and Christmas are about bringing more light and goodness into the world. Even though different religions have different approaches, we can respect each other. If we look at nature, we can see that God appreciates diversity, and so we should too! And part of that is being who you are, loving how God made you, and not wishing to be someone else.
Here are some enriching and fulfilling things to help make 8 joyous days:
- Tell kids ahead of time that Chanukah is coming. Review the story with them, and talk about how you will celebrate, so that they look forward to it.
- Let kids prepare the menorah and, if old enough, help light.
- Have kids join in saying prayers and singing a few songs together every night at menorah lighting. Everyone could also add prayers in their own words, thanking God for the good in your life and asking for anything you need.
- Everyone gets a piece of chocolate gelt after lighting each night.
- Kids get a small gift every night (book, article of clothing, game, art supplies).
- Sit together near the menorah and watch the flames while singing, eating, giving gifts, playing dreidl or hearing Chanukah stories.
- Cook together (latkes, jelly doughnuts, any festive food to help celebrate this special time!)
- Play dreidl with something enticing (pennies, nuts, or M&Ms) in traditional and creative ways (guess what letter it will be before the dreidl falls; spin dreidls upside down; see how many dreidls you can get spinning at once; etc.)
- Attend Chanukah parties, or make your own party. I highly recommend a couple of wonderful and free parties: the JCC in Berkeley (usually on the Sunday of Chanukah), and the Chabad of the East Bay menorah lightings.
- Collect some Chanukah books for a different story every night (for older kids, try "The Power of Light" by Singer). Join PJ Library for free books and e-newsletters with activities in your area.
- Watch videos together on YouTube (don't miss "Candlelight" by the Maccabeats) and learn traditional Chanukah songs from the web, too.
- Place your menorah in a window (where it can be seen from the outside) and tell your kids that part of the holiday is to share the light with others. It's not just about something that happened long ago--that light is shining now, through us and the good things we do!
One of my Jewish friends does admit to LOOOOVING Christmas songs. He says they're so relaxing.
