Dear Revealer readers,

Several Decembers ago, my husband and I received an unexpected package from my mother. Inside, we found two holiday stockings that she had made, one for him and one for me. My husband and I are what some call an “interfaith” couple, and my mom had designed stockings to reflect our celebrations of both Christmas and Hanukkah. His stocking, in the Christmas spirit, was red and white and had a gay Santa in the middle who looked like he was proudly prancing with a bag of toys. My Jewish stocking was blue and white and had a bright rainbow menorah. My mom, a crafting wizard, had created the most delightfully queer interfaith stockings for us to hang in our home.

Stockings by Cherry Cassell, the Editor’s mother

For the past nine years, my husband and I have celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas. On the eight nights of Hanukkah, we light candles on our menorah while Skyping with my mom who is doing the same. On Christmas, we exchange gifts, eat freshly baked cinnamon rolls, and meet up with friends for “Jewish Christmas”—a movie and Chinese food. These are traditions I cherish. Once a grinch about the holidays, I now look forward to blending rituals with my husband in a queer mélange of religion, food, and chosen families.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

This issue of the Revealer explores identities that are seemingly in conflict. Each article considers how our identities shape us, our interactions with others, and how our identities can change over time. In “The December Dilemma: Less Oy, More Joy,” Samira Mehta describes how Jewish-Christian interfaith families navigate the holiday season. In “Learning to Write about Religion,” Briallen Hopper reflects on how to write about religious traditions that are different from one’s own experiences. In an excerpt from her book, American JewBu: Jews, Buddhists, and Religious Change, Emily Sigalow explores the popularity of Jews who practice Buddhism. And, in “Ceding Authority: Notes on Identity and Power in the Classroom,” Abby Kluchin considers the complications of teaching Gender and Sexuality Studies courses as a straight Jewish woman to students who identify as queer at a predominantly Christian college.

As the articles in this issue emphasize, conflicting identities can create turmoil as well as new possibilities for how to live in the world. We inherit identities and we create them. Identities describe us and mischaracterize us. We are judged because of our identities and we make assumptions about others because of theirs. So this December I am going to take a cue from my own mother and remember, amidst the spectacle of Christmas and the cultural pressures to enjoy the winter holidays, that Santa could be gay. And Hanukkah can be an eight-night festival of pride.

Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D. 

P.S. Don’t miss our “Winter Reading Recommendations” for great books by recent Revealer writers.