One of the challenges for people who have grown up in an interfaith family that has created its own little universe is that there’s not necessarily a community that one can join that reflects your choices. Here’s one woman’s difficulty. My mother was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity when she married my Christian…
Read More »Blog
S’lichot, an Oasis in Time
I love summer and am a bit sad to see autumn arrive. But S’lichot gets me in the mood for the coziness of cool weather, the prayers of the High Holy Days, and the emotional warmth of returning my energies to the Jewish community from my garden. S’lichot translates as forgiveness and refers to the…
Read More »Are the High Holy Days a good time to introduce my non-Jewish boyfriend to Jewish services?
This common question for this time of year came to me via my Mixed and Matched column in the Jweekly. I am getting serious about my boyfriend (who is not Jewish) and I want him to understand what’s important to me about being Jewish. I’m thinking that this year I should take him with me…
Read More »Here come the High Holy Days – am I ready for this?
When you think “High Holy Days” what do you feel? High Holy Days usher in a wide range of emotions for Jewish people. Some are looking forward to the solemn yet joyful services, seeing everyone at shul, gathering with the “usual crowd” for a special meal, going to tashlich and Breaking the Fast. Others dread…
Read More »Fall 2016 Events
Here’s autumn! Time to consider what we want to do in the upcoming Jewish year of 5777. Here are all the workshops and classes scheduled from Building Jewish Bridges. I hope you’ll find something you like. As always, feel free to email me (dawn@buildingjewishbridges.org) if you have a topic that you’d like to see offered….
Read More »Counting the Days of a Jewish Year
This is one of those years when you hear “the holidays are SO late this year!” While the Jewish holidays always fall on the same day of the Jewish calendar, the Jewish calendar and the Gregorian calendar are always moving around. The Gregorian calendar was put into practice by Pope Gregory in 1582. Just thinking…
Read More »