Happy New Year!

I always thought having the new year in the fall made much more sense.  As a student and/or a teacher for most of my life, the fall brings a new school year.  New pencils and books, new classrooms, new students.  A fresh start.  The Jewish new year, Rosh Hashahah, has just passed, and this year it is more significant to me then ever.

My oldest son, at not quite 3 years old is at an age where he wants to learn, and explore.  This is the perfect time to start teaching him about his heritage, and the traditions that go along with it.

We live a very secular life.  We are not overly religious, we welcome people of all faiths and cultures into our lives.  Our son attends secular preschool, where he will learn about Christmas, Chanukkah, Divali, and Chinese new year, to name just a few. 

But this holiday, our holidays, they are special. 

I didn't grow up with a strong Jewish identity.  Synagogue was that horrible place with pretentious people that I was forced to go to twice a year.  While I attended religious education classes, I was not grouped with my friends, and I saw it as a chore, and an imposition on my Saturday mornings.  From a young age, I realized that we didn't practice what I was learning, and I found the whole experience stressful and hypocritical.

I don't want my sons to experience this.  I want them to find joy in our culture, to share it with their friends, to learn about how we live our life.  So I've been trying to teach him at home.  Share with him some of the good things about our faith, and our traditions.  And show him that being Jewish is something to be proud of, and to celebrate.

So, last week, I visited my sons preschool.  I brought toys, books, and snacks.  I talked a little bit about Rosh Hashanah with his (multicultural) class.  They played with our Rosh Hashanah toys.  I read a book. This was not a religious lesson.  This was about culture, and tradition.  We are learning about the religion at home, when we do the blessings over the challah and wine. 

And then we all had a snack, of apples and honey, traditionally fare to encourage a sweet year.

All in all, it was a lovely morning.

Comments

[motherbumper]

Happy New Year Mamaleh!

[metro mama]

Welcome to MBT!

[gabriella]

So looking forward to reading more!

[kgirlto]

shana tova, bubileh.

[Urban Daddy]

That sounds like it was a lot of fun. I vividly remember learning about other religions and customs in school at that age and I think they played a large part in my appreciation of others.

Oddly enough, my mother did something quite similar when I was a kid and an old grade 3 classmate facebooked me and mentioned that he remembered that holiday and what he was read (an ate) every year. Cool, eh? You are giving a child those memories too.

[nomotherearth]

Welcome to MBT!

[mamatulip]

Welcome!