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I was wondering
I was wondering if anyone else on here is Jewish, too.
submitted by Over the Rainbow
(August 5, 2015 - 5:52 am)
(August 5, 2015 - 5:52 am)
I was wondering if anyone else on here is Jewish, too.
I'm not Jewish, but my family celebrates Channukah, and I study Jewish culture. I really like to see the similarities between the different religions. Question for you - have you heard of Mastiyahu or the Maccabeats? I dont' know what your parents say about music, but these are two really nice groups/people who are Jewish and doesn't hide it.
(August 7, 2015 - 7:02 pm)
I love the Maccabeats! They performed at my friend's synagougue recently, but I didn't get to see them. Also, there is a tottaly awesome group called the fountain heads who also do Jewish parodys to songs, but they have a lot more Holiday related stuff and more Jew jokes. Actually, my cousins from Israel (Some of the very, very many I have) are in a couple of their videos! Look them up, but if you aren't Jewish you might not understand some of it.
(August 13, 2015 - 5:20 am)
Also, do you mind me asking why you celebrate Hannukah, but not any other Jewish holidays? What do you consider to be your religion?
(August 13, 2015 - 5:22 am)
The Maccabeats performed at your friend's synygoug? That is so cool! I haven't heard of the foundation heads, but I'll look them up - thanks!
Sure - I define myself as a Unificationist, a person who follows the teachings of Rev. Sung Myung Moon. I'm not crazy, brainwashed, part of a cult or a terrorist group, and I do not take part in any inhuman religous ceremonies. (Sorry, news has made a point to try and focus on those rumors about my religion, which, like many rumors, are totally untrue.)
My grandparents and extended family are all Christian, and we live in an area where Christian influences are the main religious influences, so Christianity has influenced us. But somehow, Judism came into my family in the form of Hannukah. We started celebrating it when I was five or four years old. I don't know why we started celebrating it - when I asked my father a few years ago, I think he answered "I thought it would be a cool thing to do and something we could learn from," or something along those lines. We don't really read the Torah or do anything else celebrating any other Jewish festival - I'm not sure why. We celebrate Christmas as a family, and kind of celebrate some holidays of our own religions, but religion wise, we don't celebrate anything else. Again, I'm not sure why, but you're making me curious! I think I'll ask my dad again and see what he says.
(August 13, 2015 - 6:43 pm)
Foutain Heads.
Don't worry, everyone makes typos sometimes!
(August 15, 2015 - 6:15 am)
Sorry about that! I Suppose I didn't notice because spellcheck doesn't work on this site. Drat my computer.
Actually, I asked my father again after I submitted my comment. His answer was "I don't know. I honestly forget why we started. Maybe because it was fun, but I don't know." I can see how that would aggravate people - starting a special holiday because it was "fun" or for some other reason so that we get the good part of the holiday (the food, the songs, the games) but not the rest of it. I'm sorry if that annoys you. I don't really know what to say if you are annoyed or upset that we did this, and I have a feeling that I'm making this worse as I type, but I want ot have this said, so . . . yeah. (No, you don't sound annoyed, but this stemmed from a dinnertime conversation we had after I asked and because I noticed you didn't reply to my explination. Again, no offense meant.)
(August 15, 2015 - 7:10 pm)
Of course I'm not annoyed! I think it's cool that you celebrate Hannukkah for fun! It is one of the fun holidays! Some holidays are mostly just fasting all day and ging to Synagougue.
Do you light the Menorah? If so, do you say the Hebrew prayers? Or do you just light it?
I know, I have a lot of questions. I'm just interested, hope that's alright with you.
(August 16, 2015 - 6:28 am)
It's all right, the questions don't bother me. I could see why you would be curious. :)
We do light the menorah and say/sing the Hannukah blessings. We have this CD we sometimes sing them to. We take turns lighting the menorah, and Father has this yarmulke he wears for it. On the first night and the last night (at least) we have latkes and jelly donuts, and we play driedel a few times over the holiday. Does your family have any traditions for Hannukah?
(August 16, 2015 - 6:11 pm)
Yes. We have this awesome tradition: every night has a different theme. For example, one night is always latke night, one night is always Tzedakka (Charity) night where we decide where an entire years worth of saved up money goes to, and we always have present night. Then sometimes we have ice cream night, or movie night, or game night, or art night. Night. Knight. Oy.
Sometimes my birthday falls on Hanukkah. I think it will this year.
Do you realize how many ways there are to spell Hanukkah?
Let me make a list:
Hanuka
Chanuka
Hannuka
Channuka
Hanukka
Chanukka
Hanukkah
Chanukkah
Hannukah
Channukah
Janukkah
Just kidding, the last one isn't actually a proper spelling. Or maybe it is **Creepy music**.
(August 17, 2015 - 6:10 am)
Oh, those nights sounds like so much fun! I really like the sound of Charity Night, ice cream night, and art night. Something my family has never done before. They sound great! Does you family play dreidel? What do you use, if you do? (Use for the game pieces, I mean.) Do you only play it during Hannukah? (Sorry, now I'm curious!)
Gosh, I never realized how many ways there are to spell Hannukah. I do know that I'm always jumping around between them, and somehow often spelling it wrong anyways. XD But that's a long list! (And you actually almost got me there with that last one - I thought for a second that that was some sort of Yiddish or Hebrew word for it that's been kept secret for all of thses years.)
Butterfly's birthday sometimes falls on Hannukah, too, but my birthday is like a week too early. Do you like having your birthday on Hannukah?
(August 17, 2015 - 8:09 pm)
OK. So, first I just want to say that my list is proabably not complete or totally correct.
About Dreidle, yeah, we play sometimes. When we do, we use gelt as pieces, but we don't get to keep it. And my little sisters get super competitive, and kind of upset when they lose. So we aren't very avid players. We are allowed to eat a piece of gelt every night, though!
I do like having my birthday on Hanukkah, for a couple of reasons:
1. Hanukkah is not a major holiday, so it isn't such a big deal and doesn't really interfere with my birthday plans.
2. It's fun! It's fun to have a holiday Birthday!
The only thing is that sometimes my b-day presents are the same as my Hanukkah presents. Oh, well.
By the way, I love having this conversation with you!
Question for you: How do you light the menorah? Hopefully you place the candles from right to left but light them left to right. That is the proper way. Sorry if that sounds rude.
(August 18, 2015 - 6:27 am)
You get to eat a piece every night? Lucky. Ah, little sisters. But you have to bear them somehow, I guess.
Oh, I'll bet it's fun! I think Butterfly does like to have her birthday on Channukkah when it happens, too, but some families have traditions that could interfere with the birthday celebrations, I know. But we don't do much that interference, so it's pretty fun. :)
I forget how we place the candles - I'll have to pay more attention to that this year! I think we do it the way you described, but I'm not 100% certain. No, you didn't sound rude. :)
I was wondering - where do you light the Channukah candles? Do you light them at the door like I"ve read the Torah says, or do you light them at the window, like I've seen a lot of people do?
(August 19, 2015 - 7:58 pm)
Actually, we light them at the kitchen counter and watch them burn while we eat dinner. Not traditional, but it works for our house and our family.
What other holidays (of any religion) do you celebrate?
(August 20, 2015 - 3:22 pm)
Oh, fun! I like it that you watch them while you eat.
Well, I celebrate: New Years (by going to see our cousins for a get together),
Valentines day (mostly at co-op),
God's Day (Religious, and is on the Holy Calendar, which is essentially the same as the lunar calendar. It's on Chinese New Year, but we celebrate it as a religious new year, kind of like God's birthday, I suppose you could say. A day to celebrate God.)
Girl's Day (A Japanese holiday, no religion, because my mother is Japanese)
Easter (because my grandparents invite us over for a celebration with family)
Mother's Day
Memorial Day (There's a parade in town, so we do something for it. We also usually go camping,w eather permitting.)
Father's Day
Fourth of July
Halloween
Children's Day (This one is religious, by a Holy Calendar , which is
essentially the same as the lunar calendar, and is around Novemebr or
October)
Thanksgiving
Christmas
There's also True Parent's Birthday (True Parents are also known to the world as Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his wife), our birthdays, Mom and Dad's anniversary, Day of All Things (Religious, but I forget when it is. Usually we get an offering table of sweets or something, as an offering to God, and then eat it.). I probably forgot some, too. What holidays do you guys celebrate? (Again, religous and non religious.)
(August 21, 2015 - 5:51 pm)
To the top!
(August 11, 2015 - 6:49 pm)