C'mon, Just One Bite

My mother was the one who lent me The Red Tent, so when I realized its author Anita Diamant is also the author of a book I tried to get my mom to read a few months ago but which she declined because she said she was too busy, I naturally saw the perfect opportunity to push the book on her again.

"Here's your book back, Mom," I said, handing her The Red Tent, "and here is another book of mine by Anita Diamant. It's the one you didn't have time to read a while back, but I figured you have time now and might like it since it's by the same author."

And so I handed her How to Be a Jewish Parent.

As my husband later put it, "She had the same look on her face that I have on my face when someone tries to give me broccoli."

So that didn't go over so well. Even though I explained that it has a great overview of the Jewish holidays, etc., and that it is written not only for Jewish parents but also for non-Jewish parents and grandparents.

I wouldn't have been so pushy about it except my mom is pretty hands-on with the religious stuff lately. She buys religious books for the kids and seems to think that if the books don't mention Jesus or anyone from the New Testament, then it's automatically okay for Jewish kids. You know, because Judaism is just Christianity minus Jesus.

She got my son a book last week that talks about getting down on our knees and praying to the heavenly father before bed. Hello? Does this sound like a Jewish book? She helps put the kids to bed and hears us sing them the Shema in non-kneeling position every time she comes over, so I guess I don't get why she doesn't get it. She later -- as in after she had read my son the book and played the accompanying CD a few times -- said, "This is okay, isn't it?"

At which point I said it was fine, partly because she asked in front of the kids while she had the CD playing, and partly because I'm just a big chicken. So after she left, I just sneaked the book into my closet with a few other inappropriate gifts the kids have been given by well-meaning relatives. She wasn't meaning to be pushy or underhanded. She was just so confident that the book would be Jew-approved that she didn't think to ask until later.

I'm going to have to have a talk with her about either letting us buy the religious stuff or asking before she buys. I'm thinking if she reads How to Be a Jewish Parent, she might learn something, though, and make the talk go a little smoother. It's a good book, really, and it might help her grasp the concept that there just might be more to Judaism than the absence of the J-man.

And yet I am not so hopeful, as I have never seen my husband eat broccoli, no matter how many creative ways I have served it.