Sunrise, Sunset...

Okay. So maybe more, "Sunrise, a quarter to nine". I know he's only three. But I'm trying to set a mood that says both, "My baby's growing up!" and "Hey, we're Jews!" so bear with me.

Because this morning, while in the middle of a diaper change, Ethan started singing in Hebrew. The Hebrew blessing over bread, to be exact. Or, in his case, the Hebrew blessing over snack time at pre-school (G-d's lost 11th commandment--Thou shalt pray over your goldfish and juice box).

Granted, a diaper change is not really the most auspicious of occasions for which to bust out the Hebrew blessings, but this struggling-to-maintain-her-Jewish-identity-and-pass-it-on-to-her-son Mama will take what she can get. I'll take a little "Adonai, Ellohainu" wherever I can get it.

I've not really been a great Jew in the past several years. No synagogue affiliation, a some would say unnatural love for Christmas trees and Christmas music during the holiday seasons. No formal bris for Ethan when he was born. Husband, who is Jewish basically on a technicality almost blew our wedding by telling the rabbi that his sister was getting married on the first night of Passover (I was sure the rabbi was going to refuse to marry us after Husband shared that tidbit--Jews can't get married during Passover), and his mother told the rabbi about Husband's baptism during the cocktail hour of our wedding, moments after our wedding ceremony (which is actually a really funny story and totally makes sense, but I bet the rabbi was WAY confused about why he had just performed a wedding between 2 Jews, one of which was also, somehow, a baptised Catholic). So the last few years I've been a little like your proverbial wandering Jew.

So it did my heart some serious good to hear Ethan this morning, smiling up at me and singing in Hebrew. I thought of my dad, walking into our house this past Hannukah, looking at our Christmas tree all decked out in silver and blue, turning to my mother and muttering, "Are they even Jewish anymore?" I know we're doing things differently than they did, and I know that makes them a little nervous, and I understand that. But truly. Yes, we are still Jewish.