The winter holidays extend for a few more days in the Sloan home of Ellis and Lori Sloan. Ellis Sloan, a professor in the College of Business, converted from Judaism to Christianity as an adult. In order for his children to understand his heritage, his family celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. He and his wife, Lori Sloan, discuss with their children the Assyrian takeover of Israel and the events that led up to Hanukkah. This year Lori bought a small blue tree to put up in their house, and they decorated it with signs of Hanukkah and call it their “Hanukkah bush.”
The Sloans spent time with Ellis’ family, who remain Jewish, at Thanksgiving.
“We call it ‘Hanamas’,” Ellis Sloan said. “We celebrate Hanukkah with my family and we light the candles and say the prayers, but we also talk about Christmas as well. I think my children, Camille and Ben, particularly like Hanukkah because they get presents on both Hanukkah and Christmas.”
Since being at Harding, Ellis Sloan and his family had the opportunity of going to HUG in the summer of 2006. However, because of the war between Israel and Lebanon, he said he did not feel comfortable taking his young children on the trip to Israel. While at HUG they were able to see the Red Sea, Mt. Sinai and what many believe was to be the burning bush.
“It was one of the highlights of my life to see those things,” Ellis Sloan said. “It was much more emotional and memorable for me, someone who had celebrated Passover for about 40 years as I had when I went over there. Through our time at HUG we’ve been able to show them parts of the world that many people haven’t had the opportunity to see yet. I think they are proud of my Jewish heritage and that they have Jewish blood.”
Ellis Sloan grew up as a traditional Jew. His family talked about the holidays, the significance behind them and what inspired them. They participated in the activities and food associated with the Jewish holidays. Today, he and Lori Sloan continue to explain to their children what the major Jewish holidays are, including Hanukkah, Passover, the Sabbath, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Hanukkah and Passover are the only two that they celebrate each year.
The Sloans host a Passover dinner, also known as a seder dinner, each year and invite people from the community, sometimes with 40-50 people in attendance.
“The seder has a little different perspective,” Ellis Sloan said. “We see it through the lens of Christians so we relate the Old Testament to the New Testament. I would encourage anyone who’s interested in participating in our Passover meal to contact me or my wife, Lori, around March. The feedback has been universally positive.”
