In Response to My Brother's Questions

This topic of my children being raised Jewish has really not come up in conversations between my brothers and sisters-in-law and me. Maybe it's a "boy" thing; they just never asked. And I really don't remember telling them. I assume my parents did.

One of my brothers has consistently gone out of his way to send our family cards for Chanukah, asked us about the High Holidays, and read about Judaism.

That same brother let me know that he is reading my blog. I am delighted. Today, he sent me an email asking me a few questions that I figured I'd respond to in a blog post, since others may be wondering the same thing.

First, he asked what happened to the cross in my logo. It seems that part of it was cut off on some screen resolutions (the reason I removed it from the blog until we sort that out). There was nothing more to the logo than that. My son created the image, and I liked that it showed the blending of our two faiths. However, they are distinctly different. Either way, I think that the technology malfunction sparked his questions.

Are you a practicing Catholic? 

I am not. If you are one of my friends from K-12, that probably surprises you. When our class was voting for most likely to succeed, I was voted most likely to become a nun! And, if you've ever listened to Billy Joel's Only the Good Die Young, I feel like he was singing about me.

There was a time when I considered going back to the Church. I even went back to Mass a couple of times; however, I realized that I was just going through the motions.

So, there, I've said it. Before you judge, I hope you'll take a look at all of your family and friends who are Catholic and married to Catholics (or other "matching" religions) and consider whether or not they are practicing Catholics (or fill-in-the-blank).

Although my brother didn’t ask, I’ll answer. No, I haven’t converted.

Do the kids know anything about Christianity, traditions and holi/holy days? 

Absolutely! You'll read about our celebrations as we approach the holidays. But to be quick about it, we celebrate Christmas Eve every year with my niece's family. Then we spend Christmas Day with my nephew's family. The Christmas before my mom died, the kids decorated Grandmom and Grandpop's house for Christmas, since my parents weren’t up for it. My kids would not allow Christmas to pass without decorations. We decorate our house every year – just with snow men and ornament trees rather than with religious decorations and a green Christmas tree. My children understand what Christians believe about Jesus and his significance; however, they don’t understand the differences between Christians. I'm sure my daughter will begin to learn more during her college years.

Christmas on Shabbat

Since Easter and Good Friday were considered holy days at our house growing up, I've always treated it that way in our home. I did give our kids Easter baskets for quite a few years, and, of course we always visited my Mom and Dad. I even told my children all about the days within Holy Week and what that week is all about. However, without much non-religious tradition to fall back on, that has been the extent of our Easter celebration.

The only times my children have been to Mass has been one Christmas Eve and 2 funerals. I told them about the "St. Joseph" side of the church and the "Blessed Mother" side. (We always sat on the Blessed Mother side.) They've asked about Communion, incense, and the crucifix, which I explained as I would to my own students.

My Dad prayed the rosary every day for 70 years. Since it was very important to my Dad, they understand its significance as well.

So, yes, we have exposed our children to Catholicism. They love their Catholic family. However, they don't consider themselves half-Catholic.

My kids are Jewish and identify themselves as Jews with a Catholic mother and Catholic extended family.