I’m reading a wonderful book, The Mathematician’s Shiva. Of course, it’s about Jews – but also other Russians, Poles, Americans, scientists and more. I love the underlining Jewishness of the characters and I really love that it is not about the Holocaust. There is so much more to Judaism than misery and murder. Which leads…
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Marriage Equality is about Civil Marriages & it’s HERE!
What great timing! Last night I received the last email from my list of San Francisco bay area non-Orthodox rabbis replying to my question, “Do you officiate at same sex weddings for two Jews?” It was my belief that they all did. But I was challenged by a colleague who said that just wasn’t true….
Read More »Coming this Fall: Do you have one Jewish Parent?
As I continue my work with adults who have grown up in an interfaith home I’m looking forward to another dynamic discussion. Do you have something to add to the conversation? Please come! This class isn’t online yet but you can email me (dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org) and let me know that you’re interested. Do You Have One…
Read More »No one really ‘has’ a Bar Mitzvah; No one ‘gets’ Bat Mitzvahed
It is common in Jewish parlance to say that someone is “having” or “getting” a bar mitzvah. But it doesn’t really work that way. I love Rabbi Milder’s article on this topic. He covers it while talking about celebrating bar/bat mitzvah as adults. Here’s what he has to say. Let’s talk about Bar/Bat Mitzvah. No…
Read More »How to Handle Kids Who Say, “Jews are going to hell”?
I received this question from a Jewish mom to my Mixed and Matched column: My husband was raised in a nominally Christian family. We are raising our kids Jewish. Our oldest is going to public school in the fall. I feel like I should prepare our son for the inevitable Christian child who tells him,…
Read More »Every wonder about the workshops you DIDN’T make it to?
Have you wondered what happens at some of the workshops that you missed? It’s a pretty common question I get – so what happened? Here is one of the topics that came up in Interlove Story: What is the position of the Reform movement regarding kids with a Jewish dad (patralineal descent)? There we were…
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