It's a spinning top with four sides. Each side has a Hebrew letter; Shin, Nu, Gimel, and Hay. The first letters of Nes Gadol Haya Sham, "A Miracle Happened There." Sorry for the obscure reference.
I'm sure that somewhere in the world, right now, a mother is peeking over the shoulder of her teenage-MTGS-user-son, and her heart just misses a heartbeat - "oh no, other MTGS users are exposing my son to Jewish religious symbols!"
No, wait, there isn't.
Anyway, Ratmage, given your attitude toward the whole issue, I believe the appropriate solution for you is to send your child to a Jewish school.
Anyway, Ratmage, given your attitude toward the whole issue, I believe the appropriate solution for you is to send your child to a Jewish school.
The advice is reasonable, but there are a few issues (aren't there always when it comes to following reasonable advice?) One is that there's no Jewish schools close to where we live. There's one fairly close to where I work, but since my son started to going to the school he's at now he's made a lot of friends who live close by, close enough for us to easily visit on weekends and so on. As much as I may seem like an extremist, I do really value cultural exchange and community. Another issue is that I don't want to isolate him. I don't him want him to be the kid in the neighborhood who goes to the far away school because his parents are so uptight. Finally, there is the issue of cost, i.e. we're poor and tuition at those places ain't cheap.
As an aside: The term "Xmas" is a shortened form of Christmas due to the fact that the Greek letter "chi" looks like an X, to my knowledge.
I'm still quite glad that you found a resolution to this issue, Ratmage (if only temporary). Is there the option of him entering any youth groups at the local synagouge? I remember that as being quite fun and education-tastic when I was a kid.
So I'm Jewish and my son goes to a public school. They have a field trip coming up to the Magic House, a local thing here in St. Louis that is educational for children. I thought it was great that they would get to go. I can't take him very often because it's kind of expensive. Anyway, it turned out that part of the field trip was going to include story time with Mrs. Claus. My wife found this a little objectionable and told the school how she felt. They provided her with a full itinerary which, it turned out, will include a surprise visit from Santa and a chance for the kids to sit on Santa's lap and tell them what they want for . . . what's that one holiday? The one that comes close to Hannukah?
Anyway, we were pretty upset and complained to the superintendant and pretty much anyone else we could get on the phone. The school and the district got defensive. I just talked to the principle. I told her that we would let it slide this time, but that in the future I expected them to be a little more respectful. She said that if we objected he could stay at school with another class while his class went to the Magic House. I told her that singling him out and excluding him like that because of our religion was really unfair. I told his teacher to find something else for him to do while the Santa thing is going on and she said she would.
I was a little shocked by the school's lack of understanding. The commercialization of Christmas has made it hard for us who don't celebrate it to escape it, and the insensitivity of the school was a real kick in the nuts.
Has anyone else been through this? Do any of you have any advice? I feel like if I don't want to have another religion's holidays basically forced on my son I'll have to send him to Hebrew school or something and I really don't want that. He's as American as anyone else. Our family has been here since colonial times and I want him to feel like he's as much a part of this society as his Christian peers.
Hey Ratmage:
Let your kids go to Magic House and have fun with the other little nosepickers kids. It's high time your kids learned that it's OK to accept an invitation to a gathering based on a religion other than their own.
It's a great time for them to learn how to be respectful and sociable with the Christian families, and to share in the holiday spirit, rather than insisting on being isolated and singled out based on a principle which in this case is misguided, but will not be settled by your protest.
Learning to smile and promote good will even when you don't agree with someone's religious doctrines or ethnocentrism, is part of living in a truly multicultural, multi-faith community. You would be surprised (or maybe not, you're pretty smart from what I can tell) to learn exactly how vanishingly few Christians actually believe in Santa Claus, or even in St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra and catalyst for the miraculous healing of children. Thus I would argue that Story Time with Mrs. Claus is more about Americana and seasonal nonsense than Christ or Christmas. (Hint: if your kids are American, then it is OK for them to sit still for Mrs. Claus and all that nonsense.)
Trust me, growing up a religious minority in a small redneck rural community in the West, there are more important fights ahead of you. That said, if the school district is full of attitude and your kids suffer any whisper campaigns or retaliatory injustice because of this, I would unleash a stadium full of savage Garment District lawyers on their backsides.
Isn't part of growing up the process of learning that all people are not alike. America was built on diversity and inclusion. Why not let your kid experience what other kids are experiencing? I don't see what the big deal is. Are you afraid your kid will see what the other side has to offer and defect?
Isn't part of growing up the process of learning that all people are not alike. America was built on diversity and inclusion. Why not let your kid experience what other kids are experiencing? I don't see what the big deal is. Are you afraid your kid will see what the other side has to offer and defect?
As i have posted in this thread before, I don't have any qualms with him learning about the history of Christianity or the origins of Santa Claus (it's a rather interesting and complicated story). Where I draw the line is when the school is compelling him to interact in a way that goes beyond the academic. If he asks to sit on Santa's lap next year I'll probably take him to the mall myself, but that's a decision for my wife and I to make, not the school.
At any rate, the field trip went fine. He played happily with his mom while the other kids sat on Santa's lap. He and I talked about it at length last night. He said the trip was a lot of fun. So this particular drama is over. See you next year;)
I'm sure that somewhere in the world, right now, a mother is peeking over the shoulder of her teenage-MTGS-user-son, and her heart just misses a heartbeat - "oh no, other MTGS users are exposing my son to Jewish religious symbols!"
No, wait, there isn't.
Anyway, Ratmage, given your attitude toward the whole issue, I believe the appropriate solution for you is to send your child to a Jewish school.
Thanks to the guys at Highlight Studios for the great banner and avatar.
Trade with me http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=101483&highlight=" rel="nofollow"here.
I'm still quite glad that you found a resolution to this issue, Ratmage (if only temporary). Is there the option of him entering any youth groups at the local synagouge? I remember that as being quite fun and education-tastic when I was a kid.
I have 15 cookies in my cookie jar.
Hey Ratmage:
Let your kids go to Magic House and have fun with the other little
nosepickerskids. It's high time your kids learned that it's OK to accept an invitation to a gathering based on a religion other than their own.It's a great time for them to learn how to be respectful and sociable with the Christian families, and to share in the holiday spirit, rather than insisting on being isolated and singled out based on a principle which in this case is misguided, but will not be settled by your protest.
Learning to smile and promote good will even when you don't agree with someone's religious doctrines or ethnocentrism, is part of living in a truly multicultural, multi-faith community. You would be surprised (or maybe not, you're pretty smart from what I can tell) to learn exactly how vanishingly few Christians actually believe in Santa Claus, or even in St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra and catalyst for the miraculous healing of children. Thus I would argue that Story Time with Mrs. Claus is more about Americana and seasonal nonsense than Christ or Christmas. (Hint: if your kids are American, then it is OK for them to sit still for Mrs. Claus and all that nonsense.)
Trust me, growing up a religious minority in a small
redneckrural community in the West, there are more important fights ahead of you. That said, if the school district is full of attitude and your kids suffer any whisper campaigns or retaliatory injustice because of this, I would unleash a stadium full of savage Garment District lawyers on their backsides.At any rate, the field trip went fine. He played happily with his mom while the other kids sat on Santa's lap. He and I talked about it at length last night. He said the trip was a lot of fun. So this particular drama is over. See you next year;)
Thanks to the guys at Highlight Studios for the great banner and avatar.
Trade with me http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=101483&highlight=" rel="nofollow"here.