can we talk about the ideas raised in this piece? I'm tagging my favorite twitter rabbis, only some of whom i know IRL, as a way to start that conversation. @RabbiYRidberg @rabbisandra @RutiRegan @TheRaDR https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/parenting/hanukkah-family.html?smid=tw-share

This: "our daughters will celebrate Christmas and Easter...to see our families at the time they want to gather and because we both feel at home in those traditions. Just like I did, my kids will celebrate Santa and the Easter Bunny, not a religion"

And then: "But while I have more of a connection to Judaism than some, I am not Jewish and it doesn’t feel authentic to celebrate a Jewish holiday religiously." Wait, so Santa & the Bunny are NOT religious, but celebrating a Jewish holiday in some way IS religious?

"Discontinuing my family’s Hanukkah celebration fits right in with our family’s tradition of bucking tradition." There are SO MANY ways to queer Jewish traditions, including Chanukah ones. Start with making savory sufganiyot? Jalapeno latkes? And more.

Jewish isn't a religion, or isn't only a religion. We are a people, with a long history, & practices that we have developed over that history in the context of our migrations & mingling with many other cultures. God is a part of it for some Jews, but isn't necessary

Many American Jews, i think, don't realize how deep Christonormativity runs. Light up that menorah, play music that makes you dance, the doing of those practices is about staying connected to our past and to each other. Whether or not God is involved is up to you.

We learn from listening to one another. But the @nytimes has some kind of platform, right? I hope there will be some other perspectives shared SOON that don't present being a Jew from such a Christonormative (and uncritically so) stance. FIN

sorry if tags are unwelcome & if this is bad twitter etiquette. i tend to be in conversation with math twitter, and not sure they want to talk about this :)