San Jose, CA – Some two dozen parents of kindergartners at the Sartorette Elementary School pulled their kids and staged a walkout on Friday after the principal cancelled the school’s ten-year-old field trip tradition of walking to a local coffee shop to see Santa.
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NBCBAYAREA.com (http://bit.ly/1Oga3GZ) reports that the cancellation of the field trip by school officials culminated a months-long discussion between the superintendent’s office and the mother of a Jewish child who complained that she didn’t think the tradition was in the “best practices” for all children.
Talia, granddaughter of Polish Jews who were beaten due to their religion, said Christmas brings back painful memories for her and that she didn’t think it was fair to force her daughter to participate in the letters to Santa and reindeer activities during the week prior to the field trip.
Over the past couple months Talia worked with school officials in pursuit of a compromise that would have delayed Santa’s arrival at the coffee shop until after school hours, but a miscommunication with the coffee shop owner and school officials resulted in the cancellation.
Many parents involved in the walkout are now blaming Talia for ruining their Christmas.
“My Christmas has been soured because of it,” said protest organizer Vanessa Howes. “We had all the supporters come out here today and it just feels so liberating because we have a voice and it needs to be heard.”
Talia said, “That sends a message to the kids who do not practice Christmas at home that I am not as American as my peers.”
Well tell talia, that if she feels so strongly againts Santa she should send her kids to jewish schools
There she won’t have to worry about bad memories of being beaten
This should make Talia understand that if she is truly interested in her Jewishness and that of her children, she should send them to Yeshiva or Jewish day school.
Talia – If Judaism is so important to you that need to ruin Xmas for a whole school to keep your little one away from Santa, why isn’t she in a Jewish school?
Mother should have not let her child go. Why ruin it for all children.
subtext: Jewish Mom doesn’t want to send her kids to a Jewish school to get a Jewish education.
If you send your kid to public school, don’t ruin things for the Christians. What a chutzpah this mother had. Will only stir up anti-semitism.
Don’t send your kids to a school where most children are Christians if you don’t like it. I am sorry but the christian moms are right. Don’t pick and choose religion. Either send to a Jewish school or abide by secular culture. In the secular world Santa is part of the spirit.
Educators should be able either to satisfy the recognition of the religions of the children in their school or, as I prefer, recognize none.
She should have her child stay home
Bad move, Ms. Talia; you should have kept your child home from school that day, rather than cause problems for the gentile children. Your ill advised action, will bring about additional anti-semitism.
She and her ilk are professional trouble makers who exacerbate anti-semitism.
Santa is a commercial rather than religious figure today. However, by the letter of the law, there should not be religion in schools. Talia, please send your daughter to a Jewish school. You will be so.much more at home and your kid will thrive!
I agree,u cant have it your way in a gentile school
She probably doesn’t want to or can’t pay for tuition.
Hey readers, let’s organize a fund to pay for tuition in a Jewish school. Instead of all of us criticizing this lady let’s help her child become a practicing Jew.
Maybe Nechomas Yisroel who pays for these kind of situations should get involved. Let’s all do something not just yell..
what i cant understand why would they cancel a trip , for one student, unless the mother was being obnoxious and refuse to keep the kid home that day. School must be afraid of being titled anti-semi.
if u r religious u got to respect other religions.
Ur sending mix messages to ur child pull him/her out. There must be a local jewish day school.
Christmas is the holiday of the year for the gentiles why ruin it for the kids.
I find it very disturbing, and that being said I am religious jew, as I am religious I respect all religions even if I don’t believe in them.
Dear Jewish Mom: As it is stated many times in the Talmud: “Ho b’Ho Talia” loosely translated “one is dependent on the other”. Instilling Jewish values in your children, is best accomplished in a Jewish shool. San José has a beautiful Jewish day school. Please email me if you would like to find out more.
No public schools should be pushing any particular religion, that’s the issue here. The mom has every right to complain about Santa in public school.
We don’t need the so called religious school (un)educated parents, to us the public school parents, what to do and when to assert our Constitutional rights.
Talia is right. On the one hand, she should send her kids to yeshiva, but on the other hand , the public schools shouldn’t be promoting any religion. Most xtians think Xmas is just cultural, but , of course, it isn’t. It’s part of a religion. No place for that in a public school.
Is that all?
I mean,I agree,but,seriously,maybe she’d like to have be contending with Islamic indoctrination being being snuck in some schools -for any kids,not just Jewish!
Some Jewish parents want to exploit the good education that none Jewish schools provide at a much lesser cost compared to yeshiva/hebrew day school systems, but when they start sending their kids to these public/private schools, they suddenly remember their Jewish roots and start demanding kosher food, and Hanukah menorah and removal of Christmas decorations and of course they’ll use Holocaust guilt on school administrators. Stop feeling persecuted when you can skip the trip. It’s not like other parents were forcing Jewish kids to see Santa.
All of you who are attacking the mother——shame on you.
Also, do you want your tax dollars going to promote another religion?
Bottom line…Mom’s a moron…This can’t be a good thing
What bothers me most – is that most schools clearly teach and promote religious ideas in school – violating the separation of church and state. Some call it “culture” – but imagine the school wanted to teach “culture” by taking the kids to a mosque for “Eid”! It’s only promotion of 1 religion!
i GREW UP IN communist country we jewish boys attended public school half a day the other half we went to a cheider for 4 hours when it came to christmas we jewish boys had to attend in a hall a christmas play as observant jews we did not writght on shabbas they let us not write since those days it was a 6 day week in classes,here in the usa in my oppinion we are so spoiled have it so good that we dont know when to stop demanding things that we should not demand like yhis lady.
She has a very good point. The religion of her child’s classmates does not change the government’s current position on separation of c. and s. The school should not have scheduled such a trip.
Additionally, she does not have to choose yeshiva to get a secular education. She has a right to not have her daughter taught Christian customs under the guise of American tradition. She is not frum like the readers on this site but she wants her kid to be untainted by another religion. She also might not be able to pay a steep tuiton bill.
Shocking comments. Has no one read the article?! According to what was written, she was merely asking for a compromise, – a slight change of the timing so that her child would in fact not attend since it would be after school hours (and everyone would be happy) – and only as a result of a “miscommunication” with the coffee shop did it end up being *unintentionally* cancelled.
She was not (seemingly) trying to stir up anyyhing. She should be deeply admired for her healthy sense of Jewish pride and ge’on Yaakov DESPITE being so unaffiliated as to not even send her child to a Jewish school. The attacks against her were uncalled for and misplaced.
Obvious Psychopath!
This has nothing to with being Jewish. There is no such thing as Santa Clause. No Santa Clause goes down anyone’s chimney. If you think you know one that does, he is obviously a burglar. Moreover, his red and white clown suit will be black as black can be. There is no Santa Clause bringing children toys for their holiday. It’s all a blatant lie and children should not be exposed to such a lie, as it breeds further lying. The gentile society continues to sink lower and lower morally every year. Its time that they stop preaching to children that big lie about Santa. The time has come for schools to tell all children that there is no Santa; there are no reindeers; and certainly no little elves. Surely there will be some dopey folks out there that cannot not face the reality; and to them I say “too bad on you fools”.
No matter how cultural and commercialized Santa is, it is still part of the religious celebration. But i know first hand this is part of the American melting part. The mother’s objections are not just the field trip but all the Xmas activity that goes on for 1–2 weeks prior.
Having gone to public school in a neighborhood that was 50% Jewish, 50% Xristian, being subject to all those goyishe holiday activities, including singing Xmas carols, was disgusting to most of the Jewish kids, even those whose families had nominal religious connections. When we were old enough to complain we were punished by school administrators for being disruptive.
As to why this mother is nor just sending her kid to yeshiva, What have you done lately, or ever, to embrace a non-observant Jew; to show them how beautiful Torah is? Invite them for Shabos? NEVER because you do not want that tumah invading your community and your family. Why not start by being a shining example of HaShem when in public instead of coming off as arrogant, entitled jerks.
The mother is 100% right. She pays school taxes so she has every right to send her kid to public school, the school has no right to introduce her child to any religion. They force you to pay school taxes and you can’t use it without exposing your child to religion? That’s not fair.
I am a product of public schools my whole education. I can say unequivocally that it was always very uncomfortable to be expected to participate in these types of activities. With that said, B”H all my children have been educated in Jewish environments including college (one is a at secular University in NYC with a very large and active Frum contingent).
I was brought up in a city that did not have a Jewish school. With that said, it is important to live in a place that has the proper educational environment for Jewish students.
Very funnily, my very frum children get a real kick about x-tian x-mas symbols. They always try to get my goat in a teasing way by taking selfies in front of x-mas trees, singing Jewish songs to x-mas tunes, wanting to buy a “Hanukkah bush.” But it is different for them, B”H they wee never forced to participate in the xmas rituals like I was. And I know that these things are meaningless and it is done as a joke. But, it was painful and definitely made one feel inferior, even though the exact opposite is true.
So, I do not think it was a good idea for the school to schedule this as such.