The Gentile's Guide to the Jewish Holidays Gilt Taste

Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year and the start of the High Holy Days that close with Yom Kippur, began last night at sundown. Are you celebrating? And if you're celebrating as a shiksa, a gentile visitor, and are still somewhat mystified by the ins and outs of the Jewish holidays, then you really must read this tongue-in-cheek (yet truly helpful) piece from Whitney Chen at Gilt Taste.

Whitney spent ten years in a relationship with a Jewish man, and she says she learned the hard way that Maneschevitz is not for sangria (as tempting as it may be to toss the apples and honey straight into the wine). Also? Do not even think about getting creative with Bubby's recipes. They are perfect just as they are. Another thing not to think about: Bacon. Unless it's made from lamb.

If you're new to the Jewish holidays, let Whitney guide you in.

• Read more: The Gentile's Guide to the Jewish Holidays by Whitney Chen at Gilt Taste

Do you have anything you would add to this list of tips?

(Images: L. Nichols for Gilt Taste)

Comments (11)

My high school class was about half-Jewish, so I learned a few lessons visiting friends' houses:
1. Ask people if they *keep* kosher, not if they *are* kosher.
2. Kosher kitchens will have two of most things (cutlery, dishes, sinks, even dishwashers) to separate meat from dairy. Ask for directions before using, or even setting food on counters.

I love that you have this post, but for all the Goys out there, A shiksa is an awful Jewish term for a non-jewish woman. If you are a shiksa, please don't call yourself that. Or if you do, know that you've got to put a lot of humor in the conversation, since you're basically calling yourself an interloping whore.

Goy or gentile is much nicer.

My lovely goy husband and brother in-law are IN LOVE with my bubby's brisket recipe. WIN.

No matter how bad the catered food is, say it's delicious.

@Michelle - the difference between "keep" and "are" is because the word "kosher" refers to a set of laws. Therefore, you can't be a law, you keep it.

anyways, commenters please try not to perpetuate too many stereotypes here. I don't want to get angry at my favourite website to procrastinate reading...

Faith: "Shiksa" is an EXTREMELY offensive word! It is an ethnic slur. I literally caught me breath when I saw it on the screen. Please address this.

As a student of the Yiddish language, I can assure you that "shikse" is not fundamentally an offensive word. It can be used with offensive connotations or it can be a fairly neutral way to refer to a non-jewish (and almost always young-ish) woman. The closest comparison might be "gringo/a" - it's an 'insider' word to be able to refer to outsiders. And since it's used by a minority group to refer to the dominant/majority group, it certainly doesn't qualify as an "ethnic slur".

Its not an ethnic slur but in many dialects of Yiddish, shiksa was used to refer to prostitutes.

I love eating bacon infront of my Jewish mother in law.

magzeen, lol, and then you get surprised again when you see the bill.

@all on the use of the word "shiksa" - it is used deliberately here because that is how Whitney identifies herself in the piece.

She's translating "shiksa" wrong which may cause people to use it incorrectly in the future and cause themselves a lot of embarrassment. Among many Israelis, the word has come to have a similar usage to words used against women that begin with b and c. In America, not so much but this is why you should be careful when playing with a language you don't know.