1 SHAMASH.ORG /usr/www/wwwhc/listserv/archives/scj-parenting October 2001 2 34 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6500] Sending Hannukah boxes abroad?7_Rebecca19_rls1016@hotmail.com28_Mon, 1 Oct 2001 10:32:49 EDT317_- A friend has just left to work for an aid agency in Kathmandu, Nepal. Anyone know if there's a company who can send him a Hannukah gift parcel or hamper with suitable Hannukah things (including a few dreidels, maybe a tiny menorah etc), rather than a 'just food' parcel?

Rebecca

(reply by email) [...] 37 48 55_[SCJ-PARENTING:6501] Re: Sending Hannukah boxes abroad?10_animzmirot19_animzmirot@home.com28_Wed, 3 Oct 2001 16:55:59 EDT398_-

"Rebecca" wrote in message news:d45e0dd4.0110010349.7c9d62a@posting.google.com... > A friend has just left to work for an aid agency in Kathmandu, Nepal. > Anyone know if there's a company who can send him a Hannukah gift > parcel or hamper with suitable Hannukah things (including a few > dreidels, maybe a tiny menorah etc), rather than a 'just food' parcel? [...] 86 49 49_[SCJ-PARENTING:6502] sukkah decorations revisited10_animzmirot19_animzmirot@home.com28_Tue, 9 Oct 2001 09:37:15 EDT529_- Last month we talked about new ways to decorate the sukkah, and I posted that I had found some great polyester 'silk' fall leaves that I had sewn into strips and hung down from the palm frond schach. I made about 25 strands with 6 or 7 leaves of varying shades on each strand, sewing them with embroidery thread. It was really easy once I perfected the methodology: tie a knot in the bottom of a 15" strand, thread on a leaf, tie another knot about an inch above that, thread on another leaf, repeat till end of strand is [...] 136 43 45_[SCJ-PARENTING:6503] cultural cognitive clash19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Thu, 11 Oct 2001 10:24:35 EDT447_-

I took my 3-year-old to the dentist for the first time the other day, and the hygienist was chatting with him, making small-child small talk. "Are you all ready for Halloween? Have you made your costume?" etc.

My son had pretty much no idea what she was talking about, but did his own internal "mapping" of what she was asking and said, "I made my own flag for Simchat Torah. It has a pink Torah on it and lots of sparkles." [...] 180 67 44_[SCJ-PARENTING:6505] Cultural Disparities...6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Mon, 15 Oct 2001 09:27:42 EDT457_- Alexandra wrote: >they were not communicating. The hygienist responded with, "Oh, that >sounds very nice" and went on to more mutually comprehensible topics. >I was quietly very amused.

We get that all the time!!! Once, I flew on Xmas day with my son, and=20 everyone kept coming up asking if he got anything good from Santa. Of=20 course, he was only a year and a bit at the time, so he barely had any = clue=20 what they were talking about. [...] 248 114 48_[SCJ-PARENTING:6506] Re: Cultural Disparities...15_Marjorie Peskin19_animzmirot@home.com29_Mon, 15 Oct 2001 19:01:52 EDT572_-

"Jfer P" wrote in message news:F56QHFds7b8quUyNuDj00002b9b@hotmail.com... > Alexandra wrote: > >they were not communicating. The hygienist responded with, "Oh, that > >sounds very nice" and went on to more mutually comprehensible topics. > >I was quietly very amused. > > We get that all the time!!! Once, I flew on Xmas day with my son, and=20 > everyone kept coming up asking if he got anything good from Santa. Of=20 > course, he was only a year and a bit at the time, so he barely had any = > clue=20 > what they were talking about. [...] 363 47 48_[SCJ-PARENTING:6507] Re: Cultural Disparities...8_Splanche16_splanche@aol.com29_Tue, 16 Oct 2001 17:25:17 EDT549_- >Us too, but you know, sometimes it can be overwhelming. Around here, >Halloweenn has grown in importance to be second to Xmas in junk collecting. >The stores are FILLED with the stuff, most of it total crud, and my kids are >fascinated by the things they're seeing. Drives me nuts just because I feel >like a meany not letting them go to the local 'pumpkin panic' Halloween >party, which of course is ALWAYS held on Friday night. Sigh. > >Marjorie >> >> Take care, >> I was very proud of my DD recently.. we were out to dinner with friends, [...] 411 70 48_[SCJ-PARENTING:6508] middle ground on Halloween?19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Thu, 18 Oct 2001 15:57:05 EDT359_-

I feel a little guilty posting this, because I know the topic has come up before, but maybe this angle is a bit different. I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this isn't really a Jewish priority. [...] 482 65 50_[SCJ-PARENTING:6510] Re: Middle ground on Haloween14_Aliza Fischman28_fisch.chips@worldnet.att.net29_Mon, 22 Oct 2001 09:18:11 EDT408_- >I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises >between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and=20 >Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this >isn't really a Jewish priority.

Instead of "priority" I might use the word "holiday" or "belief". "Priority might make it seem like it is a 'smaller' part of Judaism. Just my 2 cents on that. [...] 548 63 52_[SCJ-PARENTING:6511] Re: middle ground on Halloween?15_Fred Rosenblatt15_fredr5@juno.com29_Mon, 22 Oct 2001 10:04:27 EDT482_- In article <200110181516.f9IFG4K20269@gematria.crd.ge.com>, Alexandra J Schmidt wrote:

>I feel a little guilty posting this, because I know the topic >has come up before, but maybe this angle is a bit different. >I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises >between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and >Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this >isn't really a Jewish priority. [...] 612 88 60_[SCJ-PARENTING:6512] Day school kids aren't interested --?!?6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Mon, 22 Oct 2001 10:51:44 EDT435_- Fred wrote: >our children have absolutely no interest in Halloween (because they attend Jewish day schools)

I hate to burst whatever bubble some day school parents are living in, = but=20 let's get real! Kids see the chazzerai in the stores; they see it on = their=20 neighbours' porches and pretty much everywhere they look from September = 1st=20 to the beginning of November (when it's replaced with Xmas chazzerai!). [...] 701 62 64_[SCJ-PARENTING:6513] Re: Day school kids aren't interested --?!?15_Fred Rosenblatt15_fredr5@juno.com29_Mon, 22 Oct 2001 14:39:26 EDT665_- In article , "Jfer P" wrote:

>Fred wrote: >>our children have absolutely no interest in Halloween >(because they attend Jewish day schools) > >I hate to burst whatever bubble some day school parents are living in, >but let's get real! Kids see the chazzerai in the stores; they see it on >their neighbours' porches and pretty much everywhere they look from September >1st to the beginning of November (when it's replaced with Xmas chazzerai!). > >Any parent who believes his or her kids have NO INTEREST is deluding >him/herself. Ideally, day schools will impart a good enough value system [...] 764 86 52_[SCJ-PARENTING:6514] Re: middle ground on Halloween?13_Adelle Stavis26_adelle@nospam.mediaone.net29_Tue, 23 Oct 2001 03:37:38 EDT745_-

"Fred Rosenblatt" wrote in message news:fredr5-1910011343000001@mac99124170840.jpl.nasa.gov... > In article <200110181516.f9IFG4K20269@gematria.crd.ge.com>, Alexandra J > Schmidt wrote: > > >I feel a little guilty posting this, because I know the topic > >has come up before, but maybe this angle is a bit different. > >I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises > >between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and > >Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this > >isn't really a Jewish priority. > > >Halloween activity, like large birthday parties for the whole class, > >falls into the category of "things we're not going to [...] 851 71 52_[SCJ-PARENTING:6515] Re: middle ground on Halloween?10_animzmirot19_animzmirto@home.com29_Tue, 23 Oct 2001 03:38:19 EDT497_-

"Alexandra J Schmidt" wrote in message news:200110181516.f9IFG4K20269@gematria.crd.ge.com... > > I feel a little guilty posting this, because I know the topic > has come up before, but maybe this angle is a bit different. > I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises > between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and > Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this > isn't really a Jewish priority. [...] 923 127 52_[SCJ-PARENTING:6516] Re: middle ground on Halloween?10_animzmirot19_animzmirto@home.com29_Tue, 23 Oct 2001 09:10:22 EDT745_-

"Fred Rosenblatt" wrote in message news:fredr5-1910011343000001@mac99124170840.jpl.nasa.gov... > In article <200110181516.f9IFG4K20269@gematria.crd.ge.com>, Alexandra J > Schmidt wrote: > > >I feel a little guilty posting this, because I know the topic > >has come up before, but maybe this angle is a bit different. > >I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises > >between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and > >Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this > >isn't really a Jewish priority. > > >Halloween activity, like large birthday parties for the whole class, > >falls into the category of "things we're not going to [...] 1051 100 52_[SCJ-PARENTING:6517] Re: middle ground on Halloween?15_Fred Rosenblatt15_fredr5@juno.com29_Tue, 23 Oct 2001 11:52:13 EDT646_- In article , "Adelle Stavis" wrote:

>"Fred Rosenblatt" wrote in message

>> To paraphrase your opening statement: I feel a little guilty posting = this, >> because I know the topic has come up before, but one solution to this >> problem, if it is a problem (and you don't sound entirely comfortable >> with it) is to look into Jewish schools. I'm not trying to make anyone >> feel guilty if that is impossible due to location or finances, but in >> our case our children have absolutely no interest in Halloween. It = isn't >> a [...] 1152 93 64_[SCJ-PARENTING:6518] Re: Day school kids aren't interested --?!?18_Elizabeth M. Levin16_elevin@ripco.com29_Wed, 24 Oct 2001 03:35:24 EDT395_- Jfer P (j3fer@hotmail.com) wrote:

: But none of that means they're not interested, and we shouldn't fool=20 : ourselves. The stuff is scientifically designed for maximum "child=20 : temptation value." My own children -- as close to angels as they come! = : --=20 : were staring wistfully at the aisles of pumpkin-related supplies in = : craft=20 : stores we visited during Sukkos. [...] 1246 69 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6519] Re: Middle ground on Halloween19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Wed, 24 Oct 2001 03:37:20 EDT474_-

I wrote:

> >I'd be interested in knowing how Jewish parents find compromises > >between acknowledging children's interest in Halloween and=20 > >Halloween-themed social activities while communicating that this > >isn't really a Jewish priority.

And Aliza responded:

> Instead of "priority" I might use the word "holiday" or "belief". > "Priority might make it seem like it is a 'smaller' part of Judaism. > Just my 2 cents on that. [...] 1316 75 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6520] Re: Middle ground on Halloween15_Fred Rosenblatt15_fredr5@juno.com29_Wed, 24 Oct 2001 11:58:26 EDT627_- In article <200110231446.f9NEkR510073@gematria.crd.ge.com>, Alexandra J Schmidt wrote:

>It occurs to me, though, that there's a bit of a slope here if >you say, "We don't do Halloween because it's not a Jewish holiday." >It isn't, but neither is Independence Day (I'd call that an American >national holiday) or Thanksgiving (an American cultural holiday). >Halloween's definitely a silly occasion compared to these, but if >you draw the line between Jewish/not Jewish, and then say,=20 >"but American holidays and celebrations are OK", it just all=20 >starts to fuzz a little. =20 [...] 1392 31 47_[SCJ-PARENTING:6521] twin baby gift suggestions19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Wed, 24 Oct 2001 18:00:51 EDT651_-

Can anyone think of a helpful, Jewishly-themed gift for the mother of twin baby girls, or for the girls themselves?

. . .Alexandra

============================================================================== This post reflects the author's opinion; the moderators' opinions may differ. Posters seeking medical or halachic information should consult competent authorities in those fields.

ACKs are handled by an autoresponder. Munged From:/Reply-To: means no ACKs. Use "X-Ack-To: address" to redirect ACKs; it won't show up in the final post. Use "X-Ack-To: none" to suppress Acks. "X-Ack-To:" goes on a line by itself. 1424 28 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6523] Re: twin baby gift suggestions8_JanetLDD16_janetldd@aol.com29_Thu, 25 Oct 2001 15:04:31 EDT615_- how about something needlepointed with their hebrew names on it to hang in their room. how religious are they

============================================================================== This post reflects the author's opinion; the moderators' opinions may differ. Posters seeking medical or halachic information should consult competent authorities in those fields.

ACKs are handled by an autoresponder. Munged From:/Reply-To: means no ACKs. Use "X-Ack-To: address" to redirect ACKs; it won't show up in the final post. Use "X-Ack-To: none" to suppress Acks. "X-Ack-To:" goes on a line by itself. 1453 84 75_[SCJ-PARENTING:6524] On Pumpkins and Thanksgiving (American and Israeli)...6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 03:56:27 EDT594_- Elizabeth had some great suggestions about using pumpkins for Sukkos, but even that (the juxtaposition of Sukkos and Halloween) might make me a little uncomfortable; I don't know.

I think I found my "comfort zone" last year when, it being September, we happened to have a couple of pumpkins in the house. Well, I couldn't resist. I took a permanent marker and drew faces on them, as the kids called out suggestions ("Ears! Teeth!"). Anyway, I put them up on the window ledge for decoration (we apartment dwellers don't have sukkahs), but told them outright that I was drawing the [...] 1538 37 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6525] Re: twin baby gift suggestions14_Betsy Schwartz16_betsys@shore.net29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 09:15:46 EDT359_- If you want to give a practical gift, and if you can sew, how about something of the usual sort, but with hebrew embroidery or decoration? (I'm thinking there ought to be something like this out on the Web but I don't know where)

www.karben.com has a nice set of 14 Jewish board books. We have some of these books and they seem to be good ones. [...] 1576 79 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6526] Re: twin baby gift suggestions10_animzmirot19_animzmirto@home.com29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 09:31:31 EDT639_-

"Alexandra J Schmidt" wrote in message news:200110241606.f9OG6aA11559@gematria.crd.ge.com... > > Can anyone think of a helpful, Jewishly-themed gift for > the mother of twin baby girls, or for the girls themselves?



Anything that is "Jewish" for infants is either silly, or not used for = many years. You could get them candlesticks, but they won't use them. You could make them pretty quilts with a judaic theme and get some use out of them = for a little while, and then they could be wall hangings. You could have baby blankets embroidered with their hebrew names and b'days. [...] 1656 58 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6527] Twin baby gift suggestions --?6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 09:36:38 EDT457_- Since my kids have Hebrew names, it's hard to find anything personalized = for=20 them. I realize the twins you're buying for aren't going to be reading = for=20 a while yet, but if they're receiving "obscure" names, a gift of=20 personalized stuffed animals, room signs / nameplates, placemats, or=20 anything like that, though not specifically Jewish, would be unique and=20 meaningful. You can probably order lots of stuff like this over the Web. [...] 1715 42 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6528] Twin baby gift suggestions --?15_Irene Bleiweiss16_IBLEIWEI@fcc.gov29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 12:12:26 EDT447_- I'll bet anything that these new parents of twins are way too tired to = make themselves anything nice for dinner. If the family shares your same = level of kashrut, or if there is a good kosher supermarket near them, why = not arrange to deliver a nice fully cooked Shabbos dinner to their house = that just needs to be warmed up? (There also are places in New York that = will ship a Shabbos dinner overnight, but these can be expensive) [...] 1758 78 51_[SCJ-PARENTING:6529] Re: twin baby gift suggestions10_Rebeccadan25_rebeccadan@aol.com.nojunk29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 12:13:00 EDT534_-

In article , "animzmirot" wrote:

<< Can anyone think of a helpful, Jewishly-themed gift for > the mother of twin baby girls, or for the girls themselves? >>

I have boy/girl twins aged two, so I have a little experience of this.

CD: Sleep My Child - A Collection of Jewish Lullabies in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino and English. Blue Hill Recordings BHR 105 You can use this from day one - relaxes children and stressed-out mother. [...] 1837 87 81_[SCJ-PARENTING:6530] Re: On Pumpkins and Thanksgiving (and other cultural relics)19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Fri, 26 Oct 2001 15:17:32 EDT561_-

As the posts here indicate, a lot of the comfort-line here is a floating one. While we're not doing anything Halloween-related, the one thing I would do if I had the time and if there was child-interest is put a lighted and carved pumpkin in the window. It doesn't have to be a face--you can carve leaf shapes, a message, whatever. The dressing up and the sugar we get at other times of the year. Frankly, we just took the sukkah frame down 2 weeks ago, and we have had six sets of houseguests, not including Shabbat/holiday dinner guests, since [...] 1925 63 77_[SCJ-PARENTING:6532] On Pumpkins and Thanksgiving (and other cultural relics)0_62_"+ACI-Jfer P+ACI- +ADw-j3fer+AEA-hotmail.com+AD4-"@SHAMASH.ORG29_Mon, 29 Oct 2001 09:31:17 EST552_- Alexandra wrote: +ACI-the reason Halloween just doesn't spook me (no pun intended+ACE-) in the same way Easter-egging would is that paganism is not a dominant force in American society+ACI-

I wonder about that... I mean, it's not classical paganism, but I can't help feeling -- perhaps this is a little esoteric -- that commercialism is the NEW paganism. We've all commented on the +ACI-chazzerai+ACI- in stores during these seasons... I'm wondering if anybody but me feels it's more insidious than just a few pumpkin-related tchatchkes. [...] 1989 65 60_[SCJ-PARENTING:6533] On what to do the last week of December12_Seth Rogovoy21_rogovoy@berkshire.net29_Mon, 29 Oct 2001 11:54:20 EST590_- It might seem premature to discuss this while we're still discussing what to do about Halloween and Thanksgiving (on the latter, there was a fascinating Talmudic discussion of this in last week's 10/19 issue of the Jewish Press, it might still be on the website at www.jewishpress.com, but the gist of it was that it's OK to celebrate Thanksgiving, and this was from a pretty strict Halachic viewpoint in an Orthodox newspaper), BUT we are very interested to hear about what if anything people do around the last week of December, you know, when that certain holiday happens on Dec. [...] 2055 57 53_[SCJ-PARENTING:6534] a good "forward" about Halloween19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Mon, 29 Oct 2001 15:44:19 EST598_-

Coincidentally (or not, since it is rather current), this past week's Forward had a delightfully-written article titled, tongue in cheek, "How to Avoid Halloween So Your Kids Won't Hate You". (Or something very similar to that.) The author is Andrew Silow-Carroll.

I quote a bit:

[...] Nor am I sure how far Jews should be prepared to go in shunning American institutions with Christian roots. Harvard University was founded by Congregationalists and the University of Pennsylvania by Quakers, but I don't think that's slowing the applications from Jewish day schools. [...] 2113 71 88_[SCJ-PARENTING:6535] Why I Enjoy Christmas [RE: On what to do the last week of December]19_Alexandra J Schmidt28_aschmidt@gematria.crd.ge.com29_Mon, 29 Oct 2001 17:56:21 EST592_-



OK, I'm teasing a little with the Subject:. But seriously--I used to really dislike Christmas, feeling as though it was a day that underscored the "apart-ness" and minority status that are to some extent part and parcel of being Jewish in America.

Since moving to an area with a good-sized and reasonably-affiliated population, though, I have come to enjoy the day greatly. I think of it (lehavdil) as a bit analogous to Yom Kippur in Israel-- it's a day when much of the world around me really does stop and slow down. Even though I don't have much interest in [...] 2185 120 82_[SCJ-PARENTING:6537] Re: Why I Enjoy Christmas [RE: On what to do the last week of10_animzmirot19_animzmirto@home.com29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 07:52:22 EST515_- At our shul, we do an interesting Xmas tradition. We rent movies and eat chinese food cooked in the shul kitchen. :-) We even have kosher fortune cookies. We kind of pretend we're in NY, even though we're really 3000 miles away. They have kids movies for the children, and an adult film (last year it was Keeping the Faith) for grownups. We do Maariv, then eat, then watch a movie, and then we all sing and go home. It's very haimish, probably about 40-50 families participate, and it's really a lot of fun. [...] 2306 60 50_[SCJ-PARENTING:6538] Re: SCJ-PARENTING digest 155222_Rabbi Richard Schachet16_lvrabbi@lvcm.com29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 09:40:35 EST317_- Our congregation makes it a practise to volunteer on Dec. 24th and Dec. 25 to allow our Christian neighbors time off.

We willl replace them at their jobs--- We will work at an spectacular local charity that has what they call "The Magical Forest"-- quite lovely and it is like seeing the lights in N.Y. [...] 2367 42 55_[SCJ-PARENTING:6539] Re: Twin baby gift suggestions --?0_36_moshes+AEA-mm.huji.ac.il@SHAMASH.ORG29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 11:46:25 EST325_- +ACI-Jfer P+ACI- +ADw-j3fer+AEA-hotmail.com+AD4- writes: +AD4- +AD4- Another thought: what about little silver bechers (small kiddush +AD4- cups), engraved with their names? This used to be a gift only for +AD4- boys, but girls get kiddush, too, and this would be a way to make +AD4- sure they look forward to it+ACE- [...] 2410 42 55_[SCJ-PARENTING:6540] Re: Twin baby gift suggestions --?0_20_moshes@mm.huji.ac.il29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 12:14:35 EST281_- "Jfer P" writes: > > Another thought: what about little silver bechers (small kiddush > cups), engraved with their names? This used to be a gift only for > boys, but girls get kiddush, too, and this would be a way to make > sure they look forward to it! [...] 2453 65 77_[SCJ-PARENTING:6541] On Pumpkins and Thanksgiving (and other cultural relics)6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 12:14:53 EST532_- Alexandra wrote: "the reason Halloween just doesn't spook me (no pun intended!) in the same way Easter-egging would is that paganism is not a dominant force in American society"

I wonder about that... I mean, it's not classical paganism, but I can't help feeling -- perhaps this is a little esoteric -- that commercialism is the NEW paganism. We've all commented on the "chazzerai" in stores during these seasons... I'm wondering if anybody but me feels it's more insidious than just a few pumpkin-related tchatchkes. [...] 2519 48 65_[SCJ-PARENTING:6542] Article Research: Raising spiritual kids...?6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Tue, 30 Oct 2001 13:42:13 EST282_- As many of you know, one of the things I do in my spare time is write freelance. I'm currently working on an article about kids' spirituality. I'd like to hear from Jewish parents who have made a conscious decision / effort to bring more spirituality into their kids' lives. [...] 2568 76 45_[SCJ-PARENTING:6543] my thoughts on Christmas4_DRUM17_evad@voicenet.com29_Wed, 31 Oct 2001 07:45:11 EST354_- I grew up celebrating Christmas. I had my share of trees, of Santa, of the orgy of gifts waiting on Christmas morning. The carols, the food and family. And most of all, the anticipation. I will never forget waking up before the sun rose and waiting with my little sister on the stairs for when it would be time to go down and see what Santa left. [...] 2645 72 49_[SCJ-PARENTING:6544] Re: my thoughts on Christmas14_Betsy Schwartz16_betsys@shore.net29_Wed, 31 Oct 2001 11:23:46 EST572_- I've been thinking about this a LOT. I grew up in a completely secular home, where very little fuss was made about *any* holiday. We did Hannukah for a few years, meaning we lit a menorah and exchanged gifts, but no party or celebration. Of course, I saw the huge fuss about Christmas and I was jealous and deprived. Not for the gifts, but for all the excitement and celebration and warmth. We'd watch all the Christmas specials about the "spirit of Christmas" and I wanted that special, holy, warm, family feeling. Our school had Christmas carolling, and I always [...] 2718 80 50_[SCJ-PARENTING:6546] Megan's thoughts on Christmas6_Jfer P17_j3fer@hotmail.com29_Wed, 31 Oct 2001 14:21:24 EST418_- Megan asked: "Has anyone else experienced this...?"

Oh, all the time, Megan... all the time.

I was born Jewish and raised Jewish... we had stockings but no tree. = For=20 years, my mother would have my picture taken with Santa at the mall. = My=20 father would grumble, but never did anything, because the alternative = would=20 be more intense Jewish practice, which also made him uncomfortable. [...] 2799 132 49_[SCJ-PARENTING:6547] Re: my thoughts on Christmas4_DRUM17_evad@voicenet.com29_Wed, 31 Oct 2001 15:24:32 EST423_- Thanks for your comments, Betsy.

My hope and goal is to provide my children with the warmth of all the = Jewish holidays. It seems like we're always celebrating one!

I make it a point to make Hanukkah a time for getting together with family and friends to share the holiday, not as a Jewish Christmas, per se, but = as a time to share the same joy and sharing that people are supposed to on Christmas. [...]