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#Post#: 61171--------------------------------------------------
Re: Jewish holidays primer for non-Jewish people.
By: Gellchom Date: December 7, 2020, 5:26 pm
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[quote author=Songbird link=topic=1859.msg61116#msg61116
date=1607317625]
[quote author=Winterlight link=topic=1859.msg58590#msg58590
date=1602106655]
[quote author=Gellchom link=topic=1859.msg58547#msg58547
date=1602043133]
[quote author=Songbird link=topic=1859.msg58537#msg58537
date=1602018062]
[quote author=STiG link=topic=1859.msg58501#msg58501
date=1601939221]
Where I used to work, they took two days that normally everyone
got off - not stat holidays but ones that were often observed -
and made them 'floating holidays'. It allowed non-christians to
take two days for their high holidays without having to dip into
their vacation bank. I thought it was a good way to handle it
but it did cause some issues because it meant that some people
had to work on the originally designated days who might not want
to, especially if a department was small.
Many, many years ago, before religion and schools were
separated, my Dad was teaching the Christmas story to his class.
One mother approached him after school one day and explained to
him that their family was Jewish. Dad was a little worried but
this mother told him that she had no issue with her son learning
the Christmas story. But then asked if she and her son could
bring in some things and talk about the Jewish traditions at
that time of year. I'm not sure if they spoke about all the
high holidays or not.
I think we could all use a primer on all the high points of the
major religions. :)
[/quote]
My daughter's kindergarten teacher had a great idea. At the
beginning of the school year she figured out the ethnic and
religious background of each student in the class. In December
she'd invite a Jewish mom or dad to give a lesson on Hanukkah,
and they'd have a party. Another day she'd have an
African-American mom talk about Kwanzaa, and they'd have a
party. My daughter's friend's mom was an immigrant from
China, and her lesson was on the Lunar New Year. So when the
class had a Christmas party, she'd do a lesson on Christmas
traditions from around the world. All of the children felt
included.
[/quote]
But why did she have the Jewish family present on Chanukah?
It's such a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. If they
really care about honoring the culture of each student, they
should choose a holiday that is important to that culture, not
the one that comes closest to Christmas on the calendar.
[/quote]
Agreed. Passover or Rosh Hashanah would be much better options.
Though it looks like the teacher only did this in December,
which also leaves out Muslim and Hindu kids.
[/quote]
You're right, the teacher focused on fall/winter holiday
celebrations.
She also knee that the non Jewish kids knew s little something
about Chanukah.
My daughter is an adult now. When she was in kindergarten our
district didn't have many Muslim or Hindu families. That has
changed.
My guess is that a Hindu parent would talk about Diwali. It's a
fall festival, but close enough.
The Muslim lunar calendar...well, holidays move from season to
season. I suppose the teacher would ask the Muslim parent what
they wanted to do, what tradition they wanted to bring into the
classroom.
[/quote]
See, that's the thing. It was of course nice that the teacher
wanted to recognize various religions/cultures. But focusing
only on holidays that are close to Christmas sends a contrary
message. Suggesting that holidays are important in their
similarity or proximity to the dominant culture's major holiday
is a writ-small echo of viewing entire cultures as worthy only
in their similarity to the dominant culture. It feels less like
a genuine interest in minority cultures than tokenism at best,
and at worse, a pass to go full-blast with Christmas beyond what
is appropriate or sensitive to others -- I don't mean this nice
teacher, but the ones (you've met them!) who sort of say "Well,
if we throw in a Chanukah menorah someplace and maybe a song
about a dreidel, we can go ahead with our plans for a month of
nativity plays, creches, religious carols, etc."
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