On the Last Night of Hanukkah…A Message to Interfaith Couples

Hi! If you don't know me, I am Tiffany. I am one of three voices you hear weekday mornings on Chris & The Crew in the morning. I love what I do and I also love sharing my life an experiences with my listeners. Something I have never hid from my radio audience is that I am Catholic and my husband Matt is Jewish.

The holidays can be really fun, but they can also be a little stressful. I think it's hard sometimes for people to want to do all the same traditions they've done with their family growing up, especially if their spouse is a different religion. Matt and I both grew up in religious homes and each had a bunch of traditions. We both celebrated each other's holidays and went to churches and temples. We decided that we would raise our kids with both religions and I was okay with that. When I was about 8 months pregnant with our son, Nathan, Matt asked me if I wanted to raise our kids catholic. Of course I was ecstatic, but wanted to make sure he would be happy with the decision too. He assured me he was, and our son Nathan was born and then baptized. I told my husband that even though our kids are going to be raised Catholic, that doesn't mean his traditions and religion aren't important. So for our first Hanukkah with our son, I made matzo ball soup, latkes, brisket and everything else to make my husband feel like he was younger celebrating the Festival of Lights.

We usually do all Jewish holidays with his family, but unforeseen circumstances this year prevented that. My husband and I decided to start a new Hanukkah tradition of our own and have another Interfaith family over to celebrate. Matt and Fred have been friends for a very long time, they went to the same Temple when they were younger. Fred joined the Army after high school and that's where he met his wife Candace and together they have two kids, Freddie Jr. and Pennie. We have been extremely close with them for about 11 years now and we're even Pennie's Godparents. We were so excited to start a new tradition this year to teach this kids about Hanukkah without bringing too much religion into it, since all the kids are being raised Catholic. We lit candles, talked about what Hanukkah represents and ate a bunch of food and gave the kids presents. It was great and everything my husband wanted. Now we're onto celebrating our son's first Christmas and Matt is so excited for that.

So, if you are in an Interfaith relationship or marriage, let me just tell you, YOU'VE GOT THIS! YOU CAN DO IT! My husband and I are doing it and doing it very well. It can be hard at times, but not if you communicate. Have a talk, compromise and remember each other's feelings, I know a ton of couples that are doing it. Nothing gets in the way of true love.