Now that Otto attends a Jewish temple early learning center (ok, we call it pre-school) we've begun to take part in and/or be aware of quite a few Jewish traditions, including weekly Shabbat. Otto will sing songs in the bath and we'll be like, "eh? What was that?" And he'll say, "Shabbat!" Which means he's singing in Hebrew so of course his otherwise all-knowing Gentile parents have no clue what he's singing so sweetly about. Hopefully the songs are Hebrew for "don't bite your mom, even if you're teething, she is so pretty and loves you so much, grow up and don't do drugs and stay in school." Or something like that.
Adding the culture and tradition of judaism into our little home has been nothing but a blessing to our family. We are very excited to take part in Hanukkah celebrations and worship services with Otto's school this month as part of our family's December holiday festivities.
So in the (ahem) spirit of Hanukkah, my fave lyrics from the timeless Adam Sandler classic (not in Hebrew):
Lenny Kravitz is half Jewish,
Courtney Love is half too
Put them together
What a funky bad ass Jew
Speaking of funky, bad ass Jews, one of my Jewish friends in New York (I swear if this girl ever went on the road I'd follow her comedy tour) even did me the honor of photoshopping a yamaka and blinged out star of David necklace onto a pic of Otto. Yay!
I wish all who celebrate a wonderful Festival of Lights! And if you are a Tucson reader, please consider attending Temple Emanu-El Greatest Hanukkah on Earth! XII this Sunday which promises to be a wonderful, free event for families including music, dancing, a band, drama, and story-telling for the kids (Side note - it's too late to RSVP for the din - I know this because I'm a master procrastinator and I blew it).
-Lindsey
