"Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen."
ps33 now: http://www.ps33q.com
For 3 years from 1946 to1949 (First to third grades). I recited the above words out loud, right after the Pledge of Allegiance, at P.S. 33 in Queen's Village, New York. These words are The Lord's Prayer, a Christian prayer taken from the New Testament. I was 5 1/2 years old when we moved there from New Jersey, where my father had been an engineer at Fort Monmouth during World War II.
We had lived in government housing in New Jersey, in a community of both Jews and Christians (most likely other religions too, although I was unaware at the time). My cultural upbringing then had been old world Jewish--my grandparents were all immigrants). We celebrated Hanukkah and our non-Jewish neighbors had their Christmas trees. So far as I can remember, nobody talked or argued religion there, or maybe I was too young to know.
I had been in some kind of pre-K program in New Jersey, but when we moved, I was bumped up to first grade. This didn't threaten my academic progress, but the bigger picture brought many changes. I didn't figure out the significance of The Lord's Prayer until I was much older--I think I thought it was an extension of the Pledge.
But in my neighborhood, as Jews we were in the minority. My friends on the block accused me of killing Jesus, to which I would retort: "I didn't kill anyone! And who's Jesus?" There was a lot of explaining about that, and I was reassured that Jesus lived a long time ago, and neither me nor my family had committed murder.
There were other differences, though. Eight measly orange Hanukkuh candles and a few presents couldn't compare to the bling of Christmas decorations, ever more glittery when the war was over. My best friend's Christmas tree, replete with shiny ornaments, tinsel. bubble lights and that lovely piney smell made those little eight candles even smaller. Santa Claus brought the kids what seemed to be a huge number of fancy presents (we had plenty of presents too over the year, but they didn't come all at once)!
At PS 33, we had a big musical Christmas pageant with carols and oodles of colored candies for us all. Not a word about what we as non-Jews celebrated (or any other non-Christian students either).
It was the biggest party of the year and we (non-Christians) weren't invited, any more than we got to wear frothy white communion dresses. At one point I was so desperate to be a part of all that that I secretly bought a small box of Christmas ornaments and hid them in my underwear drawer.
Things have changed a lot over the years. We moved out of the city in 1949, and Long Island schools had no in-school prayers. I understand that P.S. 33 still lives (it's now called PS 33q - Edward M. Funk Elementary School). From its website, the building still looks similar to I remember from the outside, but the school has students from all over the globe and is all about diversity and fair treatment of everyone, with includes a Chancellor's message about our recent election and how to talk about it in an equitable manner. (A link to the school's website can be found below).
Jump to Texas: at this moment there is talk about school vouchers including, of course, for parochial schools by Governor Greg Abbot our very own governor, and a proposal by the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick to bring specifically Christian values to the public-school curriculum, including posting the Ten Commandments in all classrooms. So far as I can tell, this is a direct contradiction to our constitutional rights of free speech and religion--whatever it may be.
I have a granddaughter who is 6 and whose parents are Jewish and Christian; exposure to other religions is great, and I believe in that--but not indoctrination by any specific one!
I can still recite the Lord's Prayer by rote--even though it's not part of my playbook!
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Commentary on religion in Texas public education: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-legislature-2025-ten-commandments-public-schools-legislation-dan-patrick-louisiana/
The First Amendment, U.S. Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances: https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-i
Link to ps33q: http://www.ps33q.com
