A Discussion for Girlfriends, Wives, Partners, Mothers and Grandmothers Join other women, Jewish or not, to examine interfaith relationships in relation to culture and gender. What are the unique expectations and responses that a woman encounters as she creates a home and builds a family life in which her religion is not that of her…
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Are Our Children Jewish?
Patrilineal Descent, Reform Judaism and 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…
Read More »What Makes a Home “Jewish”?
A Jew may ask their spouse to agree to have a “Jewish” home. But what does that mean? To a non-Jewish loved one it may mean simply that some of the people in the house say they are Jews. But our partners deserve a more in-depth answer. One Jew may say, a Jewish home has…
Read More »Jewish Activities + Save the Date
This week a Jewish woman called me and asked, “Could my husband and I come talk to you about how it is for kids to be raised in an interfaith family? What do they tell you about what works for them?” Of course, I said yes. I was thrilled that this couple is asking, what…
Read More »Do You Have One Jewish Parent?
Do You Have One Jewish Parent? Do you see yourself as Jewish, half-Jewish, part Jewish, Jew-ish? Were you raised as a Jew, a Christian, a Hindu, some of this and that? We are looking for people who have one Jewish parent and would like to talk about their experience, share their stories, their questions, their…
Read More »Time to Pray for Rain
California’s environment is quite similar to Israel’s. Both do not receive summer rain and rely on winter for all our precipitation. So it is that with the end of Sukkot and the arrival of Shemini Atzeret (or Simchat Torah, for non-traditional Jews) a prayer for rain is introduced to the daily liturgy. The prayer…
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