New Study Shows Strong Participation in Christmas Activities Among Jews, as well as Interfaith Families Raising Jewish Children

In its new December Holidays Survey, InterfaithFamily.com, an independent non-profit publisher and advocacy organization, uncovered surprising findings about holiday celebrations from Jewish families and a growing number of interfaith parents raising their children Jewish. While many Jewish families and the majority of interfaith families raising Jewish children participate in Christmas activities, they do not believe it negatively impacts their children’s religious identity. The majority of interfaith families raising Jewish children make a sharp distinction between the holidays by participating in Christmas through secular activities, and celebrating Hanukkah in a more religious way.

The survey also uncovered that the mother’s religion has a strong influence on religious upbringing. Within an interfaith couple, the woman’s religion determines the amount of Christmas activities the family participates in even if the children are raised Jewish. Fifty-three percent of the heterosexual couples in which the mother is not Jewish plan on celebrating Christmas in the home, versus 31 percent of couples with a Jewish mother.

"There is no question that interfaith couples raising Jewish children are participating in Christmas," said Edmund Case, president and publisher of InterfaithFamily.com. "But that doesn't mean that Christmas is a religious holiday for them. For most of these families, Hanukkah is the main event and Christmas is something they do at the homes of their non-Jewish relatives.

"And as our study found this year, even Jewish families aren't immune to participating in Christmas. Between public activities, work functions, parties with friends and gatherings with non-Jewish relatives, a surprisingly high number of inmarried families participate in Christmas. Just as they do maintain clear boundaries between Hanukkah and Christmas, so do interfaith families raising Jewish children."
The findings of InterfaithFamily.com’s fourth annual survey surprisingly show the prevalence of Christmas behaviors even among inmarried Jews, in which both partners are Jewish. Forty-four percent of inmarried Jewish families plan to participate in Christmas activities this year. A significant portion of both inmarried Jewish families and interfaith families plans to watch Christmas movies this season. Sixty-two percent of intermarried respondents raising Jewish children plan on viewing one of six most popular Christmas movies, while 38 percent of Jewish inmarried couples with children plan on viewing one of the films. The large participation in Christmas activities among inmarried Jews is largely due to families where one partner is a convert. However, a third of non-conversionary inmarried families still participate in Christmas celebrations.

The reasons parents raising Jewish children cite for participating in Christmas as well as Hanukkah celebrations include showing respect for the traditions of the non-Jewish parent and his/her extended family, as well as teaching their children open-mindedness and tolerance.

According to one respondent: “Children are not such fragile creatures that they cannot understand that two kinds of religions and celebrations exist simultaneously. Thinking that participation in Christmas celebrations will negatively affect your children’s Jewish identity is akin to thinking that hearing another language will hurt their language skills.”

Other key findings on interfaith families raising Jewish children include:

• 93 percent plan on celebrating Hanukkah at home, compared to 41 percent planning on celebrating Christmas there. 66 percent plan on celebrating Christmas at the home of relatives.
• 78 percent of the respondents participating in Christmas celebrations believe it will not affect their children’s Jewish identity.
• Just 6 percent of respondents consider their Christmas celebrations to be religious, compared to 27 percent who consider their Hanukkah celebrations to be religious.
• Only 6 percent plan on telling the Christmas story at home while 56 percent plan on telling the Hanukkah story at home. Only 18 percent plan on attending religious services for Christmas.
• 93 percent of respondents plan on lighting a menorah and 89 percent plan on giving gifts as part of their Hanukkah celebrations at home.
• 37 percent plan on decorating a Christmas tree and 47 percent plan on giving gifts at home as part of Christmas.
• The families are opposed to blending the two holidays. 66 percent plan on keeping their Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations totally separate, and 85 percent plan on keeping the holidays separate or mostly separate.
• 8 percent of the families will participate in Hanukkah celebrations in the office, versus 29 percent that plan to celebrate Christmas there.


For more information, read the attached report “What We Learned from the Fourth Annual December Holidays Survey.” It also can be found online at: http://www.interfaithfamily.com/files/pdf/WhatWeLearnedfromthe2007DecemberHolidaysSurvey.pdf.

About InterfaithFamily.com
InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. is the online resource for interfaith families exploring Jewish life and the grass-roots advocate for a welcoming Jewish community. This resource is for all individuals touched by interfaith relationships where one partner is Jewish and everyone who works with and cares about them. It covers all topics of interest to interfaith families, their friends, relatives, co-workers and communities.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: InterfaithFamily.com has developed a resource page for interfaith families dealing with the December holidays that includes resources such as “Handling the December Holidays: Ten Tips from InterfaithFamily.com” and numerous articles that help interfaith families have a more enjoyable and meaningful holiday season. For more, visit http://www.interfaithfamily.com/decemberholidays.