My Inspiration

Open my front door, enter my house, and welcome to my interfaith home! I am Christian, my husband is Jewish, and together we are raising our two children in an interfaith household. As infants and toddlers, Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations with our children were simple. Family members gathered, we opened a few presents and off to bed they went. As our toddlers (quickly!) became the children they are today, these holiday celebrations are not as easy a task as they once were. My children are still too young to truly understand the enormous historical and spiritual meanings for why we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, but they are old enough now to “pick” their favorite holidays. There is no denying that both Santa Claus and “LuLu,” our special elf friend, come out on top every year as playing an important role in their holiday fun. I take great pleasure in witnessing my children’s fantasy and wonder come alive at Christmas because I know it won’t last forever. But as a mother striving to be respectful of my children’s interfaith upbringing, these last few years I have struggled with ways to “balance” their holiday excitement.

So, I got to thinking… my children have a Christmas friend that they talk about in school and in the neighborhood, “so why not a Hanukkah friend!” In my community and throughout the country, the number of Christian and Jewish interfaith families is increasing each year. It is for Jewish families and interfaith families like mine, that I introduce My Simchastic Star… A Hanukkah Friend.

I know that in a blink of an eye my children will become tweens. They will shift from celebrating the “fantasy” of the holidays to celebrating the true biblical significance of Hanukkah and Christmas. Until then, may My Simchastic Star, A Hanukkah Friend provide a new kind of Hanukkah magic for children who yearn to believe.

Happy Hanukkah!