(A recent letter for my Mixed and Matched column in the J weekly.) Dear Dawn In the past you have said that a Jew shouldn’t make the High Holiday services the very first Jewish service that their non-Jewish partner experiences. But last year my observant Christian boyfriend loved Yom Kippur. He said he likes it…
Read More »Archives
From Me to You with Gratitude
I stumbled upon an email dated Sept. 5, 2006 from my beloved friend, Rosanne. Dear Dawn, Your message for the High Holy Days touched me in many ways. My kids have often teased me as I point out the beauty of nature in the little way you talked about. And each day it is important…
Read More »My boyfriend is an atheist and I’m a believer
Dear Dawn: You wrote previously about a couple where one partner is Jewish and the other claims to be an atheist. But the atheist still had “warm” feelings for his church. My boyfriend is a true atheist and dislikes all religion. He doesn’t have any warm memories of community or shared holidays. He thinks religion is just…
Read More »Is B’nai Mitzvah Prep too Demanding on Families’ Time?
I am Jewish, and my husband was Catholic but no longer identifies with any religion. I care strongly about raising our children Jewish, and my husband supports me. Now, with three children, we find this decision to have an increasing impact on our time-strapped lives — what with weekly classes, each child’s class Shabbat, parent…
Read More »Fall Holidays – Jewish & Secular – Getting Crafty
Autumn is days away. That means school starts, people put orange leaf wreaths on their doors, Halloween costumes appear in the stores. Fall always seems like a particularly cozy season. I see a lot of people starting to find indoor activities. In My Other Life, I Craft Many of us have jobs and volunteer-jobs and…
Read More »Squeeze the Juice out of Summer!
It’s August. Time to squeeze the last juice out of summer. Then take a leisurely look at fall Jewish programs and opportunities. If you don’t yet have a synagogue this is a good time to look around. You can look online to see what synagogues are near you by simply Googling “synagogues near me” or…
Read More »