Growing Up Interfaith: Conference May 22 What’s it like to grow up with one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent? You can actually buy books that will tell parents exactly what to do and say to their children so that “everything will be fine.” Such a book is a farce. If you have a sibling you…
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Growing Up Interfaith – May 22 in Oakland
Growing Up Interfaith What would happen if instead of telling people what they feel, we asked them? That’s the novel idea behind this gathering. In a qualitative study, Dr. Bruce Phillips and Dawn Kepler asked young adults who had one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent about their experiences, feelings and choices. On May 22nd the…
Read More »Cooking Jewish Whether You’re Jewish or Not: Shabbat!
Shabbat (the Sabbath) is the central observance or holy day of Judaism. Just about everything gives way before Shabbat – including Yom Kippur. Because it is the day that God gave us for rest and enjoyment, it should be a day of joy. It’s a great time to put something absolutely delicious on the table…
Read More »Patrilineal Descent, Reform Judaism & Those Other Jews
In 1983 the Reform movement officially recognized children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. But if you read the statement it says that every child of a mixed marriage, whether the mother or father is Jewish, must establish their identity as a Jew “through appropriate and timely public and formal acts of identification with the Jewish…
Read More »Welcoming LGBT people – Say it loud & proud
I’ve been pleased and impressed by Rabbi Larry Milder‘s clear statements about acceptance within his synagogue, Beth Emek of Pleasanton. Here’s another good one that he sent to his congregation. Are You Gay? Lesbian? Transgender? We Welcome You! I am heterosexual. I expect my synagogue to be accepting of my gender identity. I was born…
Read More »Let’s Go to the Movies! Serial (Bad) Weddings
In this comedy sensation from France, we meet Marie and Claude Verneuil who pride themselves on their open-mindedness. But their lifestyle—they are affluent, church-going Catholics—is put to the test after three of their daughters marry men from vastly different ethnic and religious backgrounds. When their fourth daughter announces her engagement to a man from the…
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