After all the high speed of the Jewish fall holidays we move into a quiet time until Hanukkah. It’s a good time to catch your breath. Use November to explore the Jewish community around you. Go to a lecture, a film, a musical service. You can also start thinking about how you’ll handle the December…
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Halloween with a Jewish Twist
Halloween is the second biggest holiday in America according to KCBS News. Did you know that? I sure didn’t. Yes, I’ve noticed that Halloween has become dramatically more marketable than it was when I was a kid, or even when my own kids were little. Costumes are no longer homemade – with the hobo costume,…
Read More »Raising a Jewish Child in an Interfaith Home
You’ve made the big decision – we’ll raise our child(ren) as Jews. Now what? Does this mean no Christmas or Easter? How do we interact with our non-Jewish family’s holidays? What synagogue should we join and how can we ask for specific support in our process? Is a lot of the effort falling on a…
Read More »One of Us is Jewish But We’ve Chosen Christianity, Now What?
The Christian spouse knows how to ‘do’ Christianity and is supported in this by our American Christian culture, but you may still want to introduce a concept of Jewish heritage to your child. We’ll discuss how to offer the concept of Jewish roots without disrupting your child’s Christian identity. Also, if your child’s mother is…
Read More »What Religion Will We Pick for our Child?
What Religion Will We Pick for our Child? Choosing a religious identity for a child is often feels like the hardest decision an interfaith couple faces. If both of you are attached to your religious/cultural heritage you may have gotten stuck in a circular conversation that nobody wins. Couples want to be fair to each…
Read More »Do you have one Jewish Parent?
Do you have one Jewish Parent? A couple years ago I asked Dr. Bruce Phillips to direct me to research done regarding the experiences of adults from interfaith families. He told me that there was none and that WE should do a study. So that’s what we’re doing. We want to offer a picture of…
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