My family is unique because when my parents got married it was a mixing of religions.  My mom's side of the family is Jewish (Sephardic) and is from Syria, Romania, and Turkey and my dad's side of the family is Methodist and is from Germany.  Growing up it was the best of both worlds celebrating all of the different holidays, going to bar and bat mitzvah celebrations, and spending time with the people I loved and that loved me right back.  I remember going to my great grandparent's house for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and making matzah ball soup for Passover with my great aunt.  When my grandma passed away, my mother, her two sisters, her brother, her cousins, her uncle and her aunt decided that to honor their parents and their great-grandparents they were going to have a Torah made to honor them.  It is handwritten and decorated and is kept in my great uncle's synagogue in Brooklyn where my mother grew up.  When it was finished there was a celebration that occurred where we had to walk through the streets from the synagogue where the men finished writing it, to the synagogue where it would be kept.  There was music that played and we got to dance through the streets of Brooklyn.  It was quite a site to see. It has been used for family bar mitzvahs and will be used in a couple of weeks for my cousins!

– MH

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant