(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Meanwhile, In Another World: Chanukkah [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-01 FROM: m.benezra@rebses.edu CC: —all staff— DATE: 18 Kislev 5784 TIME: 08:32am SUBJECT: Student Diversity Training Shalom all, As we move toward Chanukkah, I’d like to remind you all that Reb Shammai has a wonderful and diverse student body, with a rather large Christian group (we have eight Christians this year!). As the Christian festival of Christmas falls near Chanukkah, we’d like to set some guidelines to ensure our Christian students can join in the kvelling and nachas of Chanukkah. For those unfamiliar, Christmas is a festival celebrating the birth of the man those of the Christian faith believe to be Mosiach, Yeshua ben Yosef HaKadosh. The festival is celebrated from evening to evening. There is no fast day associated with Christmas, and no prohibition from work. It is celebrated this year on 13 Tevet. Teachers are reminded that although Christian holidays appear to move on the calendar, they are simply calculated using a Christian calendar, rather than the normal one. Christian students should not be shamed or questioned for this unusual practice, as it is minhag for Christians. Rabanim are encouraged to add Christmas touches to your winter door decorations. Target usually has a Christmas endcap featuring Christmas menorot and wrapping paper, but you can get as creative as you like! A basket with colored eggs is a nice touch, as it represents the generosity of Nicholas of Patara HaKadosh, or “Saint Nicholas of Myra.” Nicholas is considered an important figure in the Christmas story for bringing gifts of gold and spices to the family of Yeshua ben Yosef HaKadosh. As with all Christian holidays, the traditional colors for the celebration of Christmas are white and gold, like the Christian flag. Although crosses are an important symbol in Christianity that long predate the creation of Vatican City, we must state that for political neutrality reasons, we cannot allow any crosses to be shown in Christmas displays, as this might be taken as support for the recent actions of the Vatican or encouragement for students to engage in such support. Because Reb Shammai is a secular educational facility, religious songs related to Christmas, such as “Silent Night” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” may not be presented to the class. Should you choose to teach a diversity lesson on Christmas, we instead encourage you to use the song “Jingle Bells.” A lesson length of 20-30 minutes is recommended, but we must stress that the lesson should focus on activities such as the Christmas meal and giving gifts, and any religious content should be minimized. We must reiterate that although students may choose to be absent for Christmas and Erev Christmas for religious observance, these absences will be considered unexcused. Due to last year’s complaints that Christmas is not during a break but the High Holy Days are, we encourage rabinim to foster an understanding that breaks are administered during major holidays, and that Rosh Hashanah isn’t even religious for many people anymore, it’s just a chance to get together with family and share a meal when everyone is off. With this said, we encourage teachers not to schedule exams or major lessons on 12 and 13 Tevet; however, if scheduling for 11 or 14 Tevet would prove a hardship, exams may still be scheduled on Christmas and Erev Christmas. We also received several complaints last year about a “double standard” in which the miracle of the Chanukkah story is shared in class, with several parents stating the holiday belongs to a single, albeit widespread, religion. Should a parent register concerns or complaints with you about Chanukkah lessons, we encourage you to refer them to the front office, as Chanukkah is a cultural celebration, not a religious one. As you know, its name being derived from the Temple miracle is simply a historical artifact. If you have any further questions or concerns about how to handle Christmas in your classroom, please don’t hesitate to speak to the front office. —Principal Miriam Ben-Ezra “Meanwhile, In Another World” is a speculative-fiction series exploring the effects of cultural Christianity by reimagining common culturally-Christian parts of American society as a majority-Jewish society. The series is intended to show the potentially alienating effect of ignoring the presence of societal hegemony. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/1/2202927/-Meanwhile-In-Another-World-Chanukkah?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/