My partner was raised Jewish and I was raised Catholic.  However, our household is now Jewish and prior to adopting Reagan, we committed to raising our daughter Jewish.  This will be Reagans first holiday season and my partner’s friend (who is Jewish) came over the other day to find our house decked out with Christmas décor everywhere.  Truly it looked like Santa Claus decided to vomit all over the walls of the house.  Amongst the red and green flashing lights, in a dark corner of the dining room, one tiny menorah sits…admittedly next to a large Santa Clause…that lights up…and blinks obnoxiously as a matter-of-fact. She laughed when she saw this and I was a bit embarrassed.  However, it’s impossible to deck the halls for Chanukah the way you do for Christmas. I’m not speaking of the walls of the house…but the walls of your spirit. Christmas touches you in a different way than Chanukah does.  Continue reading →