Do you identify with it culturally? Religiously? Both? Neither? What do you hope for your children and how they identify with their Jewish heritage?
Do you identify with it culturally? Religiously? Both? Neither? What do you hope for your children and how they identify with their Jewish heritage?
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Mostly culturally, honestly. There are religious components that I would like to incorporate more in our lives, but honestly the cultural, tradition, communal based parts are more of what I hope my children carry with them as they grow older.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
My DH is Jewish. He's an atheist so obviously doesn't identify with it religiously. He doesn't really identify with it culturally either. We don't celebrate any Jewish holidays, we celebrate Christmas, etc. I don't think his Jewish heritage will really play a role in our LO's upbringing.
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
DH was raised Jewish but doesn't practice. He and his brothers were never truly accepted in certain temples because their mother is Catholic. We make sure to celebrate the Jewish holidays with my ILs but DH only identifies himself as Jewish when it's convenient for him (mainly to get out of going to church or something).
LO is being raised Catholic like me. I don't agree with all of the church's teachings but I find I feel immense guilt when I think of leaving. She will be exposed to the Jewish holidays but she will not be given gifts for Hanukkah by us. My ILs insist on giving me a gift for Hanukkah so I assume they will continue to give R gifts. It bothers me because she's not Jewish. I am all for teaching her about the holidays but I don't think she should get double the presents either.
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
Both culturally and religiously, though we aren't very observant-- we don't keep kosher, we aren't shomer shabbos. I know a lot of people who are modern orthodox but we're reform. we don't belong to a synagogue right now but do go to my university's Hillel for high holidays (or to our parents' temples if we're visitng). But we did have a simcha bat for lo and when she is older she'll go to Hebrew school/have a bat mitzvah/etc. I want to have family Shabbat dinners on Fridays when she's older
honeydew / 7916 posts
Same as @lawbee11: explained...SO is Jewish and was raised with some cultural elements but has no desire to include them in LO's life.
In the 10 years we've been together he's enjoyed celebrating Christmas and his family has stopped celebrating Hanukkah, although I suspect they're doing the holidays more with their other grandchild. They secretly don't consider LO theirs anyway, and with him looking Asian I doubt he'll be included.
pomegranate / 3331 posts
we don't identify with any religion religiously, but have adopted both of our religions culturally. we celebrate the high holidays, passover and chanukah, and celebrate easter and xmas, and both sides are invited to all. for us it's more about family and traditions than religion. I think we have struck a nice balance, but i'm not sure yet what we'll do about any type of formal religious education. We're leaning towards none and just educating her in the home on both religions.
apricot / 453 posts
I was raised in a family that was culturally Jewish. We never went to temple, and I didn't have a bat mitzvah, but we'd have family get-togethers for the holidays. Except the events were always about food and family, and we never prayed or took part in any of the religious aspects of the holidays.
My cousins all had bar/bat mitzvahs, they're a bit more religious than our part of the family. I'm a staunch atheist, my mom is agnostic, and my sister is spiritual but doesn't believe in God.
Since my grandparents died, we haven't gotten together as often
ETA: As a kid, we always celebrated the Christian holidays as well, because my stepmother and step-grandfather were Christian. So there was always Christmas AND Hanukkah, Easter AND Passover.
As far as my daughter goes, she'll probably have more exposure to the Christian holidays since my husband's family celebrates them. But while they are fairly religious, they support the fact that we're not.
nectarine / 2152 posts
We are Jewish culturally and religiously, I guess? We both had bar/bat mitzvahs, I expect my kids will do the same (unless they don't want to...but who wouldn't want to? It's awesome!), we celebrate the major holidays with large family get togethers but don't go to synagogue. As the kids get older, I plan to join and attend, send them to Hebrew school, celebrate Shabbat, etc...
But, all that being said, I don't really find spirituality from any of that and I don't know if or expect my kids to, as well. So I guess it's more of a cultural thing, I'm totally open to anything they'd like to explore to develop (or not) their spirituality.
pear / 1879 posts
Our tie to Judaism is more cultural now even though we were both raised with the religious component as well. Although we intend to raise LO with some formal Jewish education, my hope is that the traditions we keep as a family (our little family and also with our extended family) are what sticks for him. Who knows, perhaps our traditions will lean more to the religious side as LO grows older (for example, if we send him to a Jewish nursery school as we are considering) but for now, I want LO to understand and participate in the holidays and have a tie to his extended family.
nectarine / 2530 posts
My father was heavily religious (Jewish), and since I don't identify with him (or his side of the family) I gave all that up years ago, and don't belong to any religion any more. I still have things like my childhood menorah, and maybe when E is older I'll explain to her what the meaning of it is, as well as some of the other Jewish holidays.
We do 'celebrate' Christmas and Easter since my DH was brought up Catholic, but he also doesn't really identify with his religion, so our celebrations are more about family traditions.
I would like to present and expose my child/children to many different viewpoints, and let them make their own decision when they're old enough. I don't feel that it's right for me to pick any particular one for them, since I can't even do that for myself.
coffee bean / 35 posts
My husband is Jewish (culturally but not really religiously) and I was raised Christian (currently not religious).
We would very much like to teach our child about Jewish values/heritage. I'm in the process of learning about Judaism to support this goal.
I have learned that a child is not really considered Jewish if the mother is not Jewish. But, I think that's an orthodox POV.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
These days, culturally only. I believe it is LOs birthright to be exposed to the tenants of Judaism, but it is her choice whether or not she wants to live a Jewish life.
persimmon / 1233 posts
Culturally, mostly. We will raise our kid(s) as Reform Jews - Sunday and Hebrew school, holidays, bar/bat mitzvahs. I read somewhere that something like 40% of Reform Jews are atheists so I don't feel too bad that I fall into that and see it more as a heritage/culture thing. Also, Jewish summer camp plays a big part in our lives - my husband and I met there and many of our closest friends are from there, so we plan to send our kids as well.
Even though I'm not really spiritual, I agree with the tenets of Judaism (Reform, at least) - equality, charity, standing up for the oppressed - and those are values I hope to pass on to LO.
Today | Monthly Record | |
---|---|---|
Topics | 0 | 1 |
Posts | 1 | 3 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies