The Jewish Journal Of Greater Los Angeles

Gaby Wenig in The Jewish Journal reveals the abject failure of condoning intermarriage. [Emphasis mine]

At Temple Beth Hillel, Mark Singer teaches his third-grade Hebrew school class about Chanukah using all the usual props: he lights a menorah, spins a dreidel and throws a doughnut and latke party.

However, considering that anywhere from 25 to 100 percent of his students come from mixed marriages, one thing he does not emphasize too strongly is that the real message of the Maccabean victory is a staunchly anti-assimilationist one. Instead, Singer adamantly informs his class that Chanukah celebrations should not be blended with celebrations of that other holiday of the same season.

Rabbi Singer cannot even tell his own students about the true meaning of Hanukah, lest to hold up a mirror to their parents decisions.