Can a cultural Jew pass on Jewish values and identity to the next generation
without any Jewish practices in the home? Or with only the bare minimum of practices and rituals, such as celebrating Hanukkah? Many people would say yes and have said yes. Many would also say no. Is there one right answer? No, I don’t think so.
My bottom line? (In my opinion, of course.) Cultural Judaism works for some families and not for others, and we can’t really predict what our kids will relate to on either side of the coin. There are kids (and adults) for whom religion is suffocating and a dead end. There are kids (and adults) for whom the culture of bagels and Chinese food on Christmas does not have enough meaning and does not translate, magically, into the values we’d like to say we demonstrate.
I grew up on the cultural end of Judaism and landed somewhere in the middle, though for sure much closer to the religious side.
A sliver (really, just a sliver) of that story is on tcjewfolk today. I’m trying to answer the question: If bagels and Chinese food on Christmas was enough for my childhood, then why do I think it’s not enough for my children?”
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