Join me in singing the Hanukkah blessings loud enough for Ye to hear.
I am of 100% Jewish descent, but I grew up in a small town that was predominantly Catholic and WASP — picture country clubs, lots of blonde hair, and at least six churches within two square miles. My paternal grandparents, also fully Jewish by blood, avoided any association with Judaism and had us celebrate every Christmas with a tree, stockings, and baked ham until my grandmother’s passing in 2015.
As much as I loved the holidays growing up and the many traditions my family had built, I didn’t love that my Christian classmates knew about Hanukkah, because it emphasized the fact that I was different around that time of year. Hanukkah is actually not one of the important religious holidays in Judaism — it was not one of the few that got us to temple — but non-Jewish kids aren’t really aware of Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah, so if I didn’t call attention to them, nobody else would.
I’m no longer religious . I know many people struggle to understand how you can have a strong cultural connection to Judaism if religion doesn’t play a role, but that’s just one of the many things that make us unique and cool, okay? I don’t know exactly how or if this year’s holiday will actually be any different than Hanukkahs past. So far, I’m just vowing to sing the blessings over the candles loud and proud at our family Hanukkah party. The lighting of the candles each night of Hanukkah is one of those rituals that Jews across the world are doing in some form, and participating helps me feel connected to the larger community.
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