Sharing Hanukkah Traditions!

Sophie enjoying latkes

Will was the best latke eater!
Sophie and Becke posing at the menorah

The kids enjoying the dreidel game


Sometimes being Jewish is tough. Being Jewish in Harford County, Maryland is even tougher. While the county is slowly becoming less homogeneous, the amount of Jewish families in the area is slim. That being said, its tough for Sophie and Mason in December. Everything is red and green, Santa and Rudolph and Jingle Bells. So, we decided to have several of Sophie and Mason's little friends over to enjoy some of the Jewish traditions of Hanukkah.

We ate latkes, spun the dreidel and lit the menorah. The kids all had a great time, and Sophie and Mason (particularly Sophie) was really happy to share her customs with her friends. It was really cool to see several of her friends already know about the rules of dreidel and different aspects of the holiday.

Tomorrow night we are headed to the synagogue in Harford County for a Hanukkah party. That should be fun!

On a scary note, I was in Target last week and asked an employee where the Hanukkah paper, bows, etc was. He replied "We don't do that here". Hmph!

It's so much fun to share customs and traditions. I truly believe it makes people more tolerant, accepting and loving to all people when you can step outside the box. When the Hanukkah hoopla dies down next week and Christmas celebration kicks into high gear, hopefully the kids will learn new things and experience the fun of the Christmas season!