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Fucking culture day at school

5 replies

Quaysider · 14/05/2025 17:47

Ds at state primary, non faith, in London, v mixed area. It’s culture day next week. He has to take in food - we have that sorted - and wear clothes of his culture.
He is refusing to just wear England kit to symbolise his dad’s side. I have just spent an hour explaining why it’s not appropriate to wear Polish or Lithuanian football shirts to symbolise his Ashkenazi roots (not least that we left before they existed as countries, and were escaping pogroms). Then I had to explain why given the current politics walking through east London in a big I am Jewish tshirt not a good idea right now (eg tshirt with Star of David on it). Plus I don’t want to buy a tshirt for just one day.
He has reluctantly agreed just a shirt and kippur as you might wear in synagogue would do. I think a tallit to school disrespectful never mind the school lunch stains etc it would get.
so a) I fucking hate this day and b) any other ideas for what he can wear?

OP posts:
AniBocha · 14/05/2025 22:53

Sorry you are upset @Quaysider . It's horrible being worried is the first concern.

How about the tallit just to wear for a short while not all day.

PurpleThistle7 · 16/05/2025 12:20

What's the food he's taking? Cause I'd think his clothes should match. Like if he's bringing English food then an English top makes sense

(though this is really messy as clearly my children are both Scottish and Jewish - and their parents are American immigrants - so their 'cultural' food is a weird mash up of several different traditions including ham buns for easter, tsimmis for pesach, honey cake on Rosh Hashanah, turkey on American thanksgiving, haggis on burns night... we include it all lol)

Quaysider · 16/05/2025 12:26

He’s taking beigels (bagels) from a proper beigel shop.
He’s agreed to wear a yarmulke and a smart shirt as if going to synagogue (not something we do but that’s what he wore to a Bar Mitzvah recently).

OP posts:
PurpleThistle7 · 16/05/2025 12:30

That sounds fair - was going to suggest an Israeli football top but that's a lot of faff if it's not something he'd use regularly.

Quaysider · 16/05/2025 17:05

Yeah. Also I feel we spend a lot of time trying to explain how being Jewish is not the same as being Israeli.

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