Exploring Jewish Heritage (Ashkenazi)

lostinrates

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Hmm, i've only ever shallow fried latkas - i don't see what's wrong with it. I'm tempted to make them for the first time for my family this year, if i can get a decent recipe and find a blender

Probably if I deep fried I'd be told to shallow fry . (I have no Jewish mil, because she's dead, but I have lots of Jewish aunt in laws....none of them are that close, but a couple do their best to be as good in the role as possible. . Luckily I am fond of them. Actually, the one I was closest to died a couple of years ago, but the most religious one is still alive, and really helpful.

OP, the other great thing about the Jewish culture is its very rich in humour and discussion. There is an old joke....four Jews, five opinions. .

And my personal favourite Jewish joke.....when talking about a well known journalist who had discovered his grandmother was Jewish , and to his mother, and thus himself, wrote about it and wrote he was half Jewish.....and we were discussing the fallout on his family (the journalist was a friend so we were aware of some background ) aroun d the dinner table and my husband sad..' I didn't know x was a Jew' and his father said 'well, Jew-ish'. Its terribly funny spoken and I've seen it written all over the place now, but the first time I heard it I found it childishly brilliant.

Savvy_Sue

ringo_24601 wrote: »

But that's what it is officially about! The festival where the miracle of the temple light that lasted for 8 nights, with only 1 night of oil. So the food has to be oily (doughnuts, potato latkas)

Yes, I know that!!!

peachyprice

lostinrates wrote: »

I didn't know x was a Jew' and his father said 'well, Jew-ish'. Its terribly funny spoken and I've seen it written all over the place now, but the first time I heard it I found it childishly brilliant.

I love that, I think I'll use that from now on when asked if me/my children are Jewish.

We are by descent and still have some very Jewish family mannerisms and looks (although somewhat diluted after 4/5 generations removed), living in a very Jewish area it's quite often assumed we are.

Alpha58

I'm a Christian but three cheers for the OP for wanting to keep her childrens' heritage alive.

*Lest we forget*

double_mummy

we love watching movies in hebrew esp if the kids know the movies well they will still understand what is going on and will start picking up on words (loads of disney films in hebrew)

and i find (being married to a jew) is that its not eat until you feel sick its eat until you are sick multiple times and 3 months worth of food to take home with you and a little bit more for the 10 minute journey home and of course you have to have one last coffee and cake lol

LE3

I think it's great that you want to the children to know more about their heritage, and I know you mean well, but I am not sure that you have quite the right approach ...
If your children's great grandparents were farmers, would you be wanting to take them down on the farm mucking out & watching calves being born to understand their heritage? What if they were miners like mine? Or soldiers?

As a Christian, you have a Jewish 'heritage' - Jesus was a Jew! Why not take the opportunity to learn with your children about the festivals and the traditions together - you may find that you can incorporate elements into your own traditions. I know several Christians who celebrate a form of Passover each year on Maundy Thursday - the traditional Jewish passover meal has a different significance to Christians when they realise it was the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples ... this is no way disrespectful to Jews, it is where the two religions separate ...

Unless you feel strongly attached to the Jewish faith/heritage, I'm not sure why you would want your children to learn Hebrew & become completely immersed in the faith? You can learn about their heritage as you would learn about your own great grandparents living during the Victorian era ...

I probably haven't expressed what I'm trying to say very well ...

[Deleted User]

I think if the OP wants to look at her husbands (and thus kids) heritage then using a warped version of it may not be the best method. I would focus more on the European Ashkenazi culture and history than the religion (although these are usually intermixed). His family cannot have been that religious to start with if both of his parents raised him as non-practising and atheist.

Edit: Or just pop Fiddler on the Roof on TV when they are older

heretolearn_2

I sort of get you OP, but also sort of get LE3 and Ringo's points.

So one set of grandparents were Jewish (but in an ethnic sense and not religious).

Interesting to explore to some extent but getting your kids to learn Hebrew etc seems to be going way over the top. It's not a terribly useful language for them to learn in general and they are NOT actually Jewish. Presumably their grandparents were also German/Polish or something but you aren't thinking about them learning those languages...

Be a little bit careful of latching on to this as a 'cool' thing for your family as that could actually be a bit offensive. It could end up a bit like 5th generation Americans declaring 'I'm Irish' because of their distant ancestors. They aren't Irish, and your kids aren't Jewish.

I think it's great that you want to look at this side of their ancestry and encourage them to learn something about it, but perhaps treat it as part of their ancestry and look at the other grandparents lives/backgrounds as well? It's amazing what you can find out when you start looking at family history.

My son has grandparents that are English, Irish and Jewish Russian (immigrant as a baby). As far as we are all concerned those are interesting facts, but he's English. We're pretty much all a mix of something or other if you look back a generation or two. I'm sure he would have found it bizarre if we'd decided to turn him into a sort of semi-Jew.

heretolearn_2

oops duplicated post

lavandergirl_2

Thank you all once again. I am glad to have posted here as everybody was able to give a critical view of our situation. Google can sometimes give too much an introspective view of things.

We will probably let the children decide (once they get older and start asking questions) on what aspect of their heritage they want to know about. Although, I like the idea of celebrating the holidays, cooking and eating till our hearts content!