Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Bedtime Song

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 50
Occupation: Teacher
Residence: Bothell, WA
Performance Date: 3/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

TM is an accountant who was born in Sunnyside, WA and now is currently living in Bothell, WA. He descends from a heavy Irish and Italian background which have influenced much of his culture growing up. His grandparents were the ones to teach him the most about his culture through their traditions and common sayings.

Are there any rituals or things you did on a daily basis that you felt were unique to your family or culture?

TM: There wasn’t anything that was very different. There was the bed time prayers we used to say, those were very unique and I never heard them in the bible or any of my friends who were catholic who would say them. My grandmother taught my father how to say them and in turn my father passed it to me as I have passed it to my children. Hopefully they will pass it on.

Do you happen to remember the prayer?

TM: Yes I do, the way it went was; “Now I lay me, down to sleep, pray the Lord, my soul to keep. Keep me safe, through the night, and wake me with, thy mornings light. Amen.”

Do you know what it means or the significance behind it?

TM: It is supposed to be a bedtime prayer for children but some adults I knew still said it. It basically means that when you sleep you hope that God will keep you safe and that you will wake up the next morning safe in your bed. I think it became sort of a chore or habit more than a ritual for me. Many times, when I said it I didn’t really mean it and I just wanted to go to sleep. Now that I am older and I have a different relationship with God the words resonate deeper with me which is why I think I wanted my kids to say it too. We all want our kids to sleep safe and this was a way of keeping an ease at mind in a way. I liked to say it with them sometimes when they were really little. I think it loses it significance when you don’t really understand what you are saying especially when you are young.

Analysis:

Prayers at bedtime right before you sleep is common between many devout Catholics and Christians. This particular prayer TM shared is common but not widely known or practiced. It would serve as a protection or barrier against harm or bad dreams which is why it was very common among children. When I researched the prayer, there were many variations to the middle phrase of the prayer, ‘keep me safe, through the night’. Sometimes it was ‘may angels watch me through the night’ or ‘guide me safely through the night’. Or I came across one with an alternative ending, ‘god bless family, friends, and fun, I thank you each for every one. Although they vary, they all seem to carry the same message of protection and trust in God.

Pig Roast

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 74
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Sunnyside, WA
Performance Date: 3/20/17
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

LW is a retired 74-year-old woman who lives with her husband in Sunnyside, WA. She was born and raised there and came from an immigrant mother and father who came from Guadalajara, Mexico. She never went to college but became a mother to three children and a grandmother to several grandchildren. She was remarried twice and worked two minimum wage jobs to support her family. Her primary language is Spanish but her English is perfect as well.

Are there any special rituals that you thoroughly enjoyed growing up with?

LW: We used to have occasions with the whole family where we would get together and bury a whole pig in the ground to roast it. It is kind of the same ritual as Hawaiian luaus have but it is a bit different because it is a Mexican tradition. We had to eat all the parts of the pig that we could, even the gross insides and the feet. We used to cook the feet in a stew called menudo. It was kind of disgusting but some of it tasted really good.

What would you do at the get together?

LW: We would mostly just catch up with our relatives. It was more of a social event than a ritual to get all of the family together. I have twelve brothers and sisters so you can imagine that means a lot of cousins and grandchildren and the gathering of us all got huge. It was such a fun event and every year it seemed the family was growing more and more.

Do you still do these ‘pig roasts’ every year?

LW: No, we don’t do them anymore because too many people have grown old and moved away so the ritual has died off a bit but I still talk about the events with my brothers and sisters and look back on all the fond memories I have of them and associate the smells and tastes with amazing times.

Analysis:

These kinds of events are popular among cultures of larger families and they often create rituals to make a tradition and reason to see each other more often in the year. Mexican families are commonly larger than families in other cultures and tend to follow the big and loud stereotypes of the likes of Italian and Greek cultures. The food of the gathering is directly associated with memories and importance of the social event and is a huge factor of the significance of the event.

Shabbat

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

KM is a student at the University of Southern California studying architecture. She is from Encino, CA and has lived her whole life in Southern California. She comes from two Israeli parents and has a strong Jewish background as most of her family lives in Israel. She attended a private Jewish high school and learned Hebrew over the course of her school career. She actively participates in many holiday traditions and prayer rituals.

Are there any rituals you and your family practice together regularly?

KM: Well we have Shabbat every Friday night to Saturday. We have dinner together and sometimes other family members come like my grandfather. It is more of a day each week of rest. It is a day we liked to spend together and a day of prayer where I can feel connected to my religion even though I don’t go to the temple as much anymore as we used to.

Are there any special rituals you have that you carry out?

KM: We light candles and put them in our window every Friday evening. It is a way to tell that you are Jewish and you are celebrating the Shabbat. That is the kind of thing my parents taught me to do. We do not really consider ourselves as a conservative Jewish family anymore but this is something we still strictly do. Most Jews who are conservative are extremely strict about the Shabbat and temple as weekly things they find of importance. We don’t celebrate the Shabbat as much as we used to after me and my brother and sister went off to college but it is still something that is very important to me.

Analysis:

Shabbat is something that is commonly practiced by many Jews. The rituals and traditions of each family can vary as Jewish folklore often varies slightly from one culture or family to another. The lighting of candles is extremely important to the day of rest. The day of rest is to take away from your common everyday labor and to take it as a day to commit yourself more to your religious practices.

Rosh Hashannah

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

KM is a student at the University of Southern California studying architecture. She is from Encino, CA and has lived her whole life in Southern California. She comes from two Israeli parents and has a strong Jewish background as most of her family lives in Israel. She attended a private Jewish high school and learned Hebrew over the course of her school career. She actively participates in many holiday traditions and prayer rituals.

What other holidays do you find important to celebrate during the year?

KM: We celebrate a holiday called Rosh Hashanah, it is a Jewish holiday that we are meant to spend together as a family and we do it every year. Usually we go to San Diego for it as well.

What is the significance of the holiday and how is it related to Judaism?

KM: Well Rosh means ‘head’ in Hebrew and Shanah means ‘the year’ which kind of signifies the ‘head of the year’. So, we celebrate it as the Jewish New Year. It is the first high holiday in Judaism that is celebrated. It is kind of like an obligation for us to celebrate it every year but it is also really fun. We eat Hallah bread with honey and apples which is one of the most traditional Jewish foods. It is always in August or September when me and my siblings would be in school, but since we went to a private Jewish school, we always got the holiday off to spend with our family. It was a holiday I always remember being about spending time with your loved ones and celebrating all the things to come in the new year and next few high holidays.

Was this the most important high holiday to you? How does this tradition compare to the other high holidays?

KM: Well because we are all in college now we do not celebrate the holiday as a family anymore because it is too hard to get away from school during the week, especially now that my brother goes to school in Kansas. I have so many fond memories of the holiday but I am sad that we cannot spend it together as often anymore. This high holiday is not nearly as important to me as Hanukah though. That is one of the most well-known and widely celebrated holidays in our religion.

Analysis:

As one of the high holidays, Rosh HaShanah is extremely important in Jewish tradition. It is something that many Jews celebrate in the same way that Chinese people celebrate their own new year at a different time of the year than most Christians and Americans. The holiday is supposed to represent the anniversary of Adam and Eve and their realization of humanity’s role in the world according to God. In temples, you would blow a horn called the shofar in the temple as a ritual although KM does not use this practice.

March of the Living

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/5/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Hebrew

KM is a student at the University of Southern California studying architecture. She is from Encino, CA and has lived her whole life in Southern California. She comes from two Israeli parents and has a strong Jewish background as most of her family lives in Israel. She attended a private Jewish high school and learned Hebrew over the course of her school career. She actively participates in many holiday traditions and prayer rituals.

Is there any significant milestone other than a bat mitzva that you have in your young-adult life?

KM: Well when we graduate high school we go on a trip called March of the living where we basically tour all the concentration camps in Europe and travel to meet with others Jews who do it as well. Every year the graduating class at Jewish schools across the world do it and other Jewish organizations do it as well.

How is did that experience or tradition effect you?

KM: It was an amazing experience and it changed my life and my view on my heritage as a Jewish-American. Going to the concentration camps made me very emotional because many of my ancestors went through that experience in WWII. I think that it gave me a better perspective on how close our Jewish community is as well. When we got to meet Jewish people from all over the world and talk to them about our religion it was very comforting that we found solace in other people.

What was the most influential part of the trip?

KM: I think it was the march in general and especially when we went through the forest that people had to walk through or labor in where many people died. The trees were narrow and if someone walked more than 5 yards ahead they would disappear completely which was a scary thing to see how easily one could get lost or run off but they couldn’t for fear of being killed. Also, many people were killed out there which made the silence of the walk eerie and something I will never forget.

Analysis:

The march of the living is a very important trip for young Jewish people. The experience the true persecution of the holocaust and it is extremely eye-opening for most of them. I think it is a week where they focus on their culture and also connecting with others who share the same cultural identity and history. It is a tradition that is a bit newer but, still has had a dramatic effect on Jewish people around the world.