(This column for Mixed and Matched in the J-weekly originally appeared May 4, 2021) I was delighted by the many responses to my April column, “At a loss after my rabbi said I’m not allowed to read Torah.” Let’s walk through the concerns that were raised. One man wrote, “You need to tell the Conservative…
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(This letter originally appeared in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly on April 14, 2021) Dear Dawn, I am from an interfaith family; my dad isn’t Jewish. I was raised and identify as Orthodox. Jews assume that it must be OK to criticize Orthodox Jews to my face. When they realize they are…
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Two just claims can conflict. Two people of good will can be at odds. Should one side be eliminated in order to have peace? Or can we compromise and live with people with whom we disagree? This question arises frequently when interfaith couples are addressing patrilineal descent – children of a Jewish father and a…
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First, let me address the issue of whether the High Holy Days are “early” this year. For the Gregorian calendar, yes, it is early. Note that the Gregorian calendar was put into effect for the entire Catholic world by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 with a papal bull. For the Jewish calendar, no, the dates are…
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Cantor Linda Hirschhorn emailed her congregation, Temple Beth Sholom of San Leandro, about the practice of reciting a Psalm in preparation for the High Holy Days. She said: Starting this Sunday, August 8th— which is Rosh Hodesh Elul — until the end of the high holidays, Psalm 27 is recited in the daily morning and evening…
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A wise psychotherapist compared a non-Jew living in a Jewish community to a tourist visiting a new country. Dr. Perel is herself a transplant from Belgium to the United States. She uniquely positioned to view two cultures from inside and outside. Often Jews are so accustom to being the outsider that they are frantic to…
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