You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

     My daughter Maria comes from a Christian background while her husband Justin's family is Jewish.  Justin and Maria were married under a canopy in a Christian-Jewish ceremony officiated by a Lutheran pastor and a rabbi.

     I don't know how many times concerned acquaintances, referring to Maria and Justin's different religious backgrounds,  have asked me "But how will they raise their children?"  My stock answer was that if Maria and Justin manged to raise their children to be kind to everyone and be the best persons they can be then they'd probably have all the bases covered, whatever else they did religion-wise.
   Often incorporated into people's concerns over the children's religious upbringing was how their parents would handle the holidays that overlap, Passover and Easter, Christmas and Hanukkah.

Maria, Justin and their children, now 4 and 2 years old, are visiting from Los Angeles for the holidays.

     Here's what I've observed:
     Maria and Justin's children love Hanukkah.  And they love Christmas.          

      They identify with the menorah,

...and they're fascinated by the Christmas Tree.

     The love to see the Hanukkah decorations,

...the Christmas decorations,

...and they loved the holiday lights at Easton Town Center.

     They love baking Christmas cookies and Hanukkah cookies,

     When we gather around the piano they know all the words to "Hanukkah, Oy Hanukkah" and "The Dreydl Song" but they'll happily segue into the Christmas carols.

     They know the story of how the Maccabees defeated the wicked King Antiochus while the lights miraculously burned in the temple for nine days and they know the story of how Baby Jesus was born in a stable and lay in a manger surrounded by shepherds and kings, and an angel.

     And though they keep misplacing Baby Jesus,

...they move without a problem or pause from  Hanukkah to Christmas and back again under a canopy where there's room for everyone and every possibility, where there are no walls between what I believe and what you believe, where there are no walls separating "us" from "them".  
     Young children can do this effortlessly.
     When does it all change? And why?