A young Chinese Jew sent the following letter to my Mixed and Matched column – My dad is Chinese, not Jewish; my mom is white and Jewish. They raised me Jewish. My last name and my looks are Chinese. In my home congregation, no one pays any attention to my mixed race, but in other…
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4 Things that Make a Synagogue Uncomfortable for Me
In a conversation with a young person who is Asian and Jewish (yes, halachically Jewish, as in has a Jewish mother) I asked, “Are you comfortable in a synagogue?” The answer was, no, so I asked why. The answer: 1. I didn’t get much Jewish education so I don’t really know what’s going on…
Read More »Pain makes it hard to listen to the views of others
It can be hard to hear another person when the words in your head are drowning out their voice. Everyone deserves to be heard out. If someone else’s experience is being blotted out by your own pain you may need to be heard out before you can listen to that person. Try to sort out…
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“My wife and I knew that raising biracial Jewish kids meant there would be situations when people would question their Jewish authenticity. We thought about scenarios that could come up. We brainstormed how to response and how to teach the kids to respond. We told them, “You owe nobody an explanation. No one has the…
Read More »What my Mom said about Christmas
My mom and I are Jewish, my dad is Catholic. Growing up we were members of a synagogue and I went to Hebrew school. When I got close to my bat mitzvah it suddenly hit me, We have a Christmas tree! I went to my parents and said, “We have to stop having a tree….
Read More »May Community Events and Classes
EVENTS Cooking Jewish Whether You’re Jewish or Not: Shabbat! (Los Altos) Community Yom Hashoah Commemoration (San Francisco) Mimouna! (San Francisco) Community Yom haShoah (Oakland) Marin Community Yom HaShoah VeHaGevurah (Tiburon) Shulchan Shabbat & Shabbat Unplugged (San Rafael) Shabbat Hallelu and Concert (San Mateo) Annual Interfaith Picnic (Lafayette) Cooking Jewish Whether You’re Jewish or Not: Shabbat!…
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