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…
Read More »Adult Child of an Interfaith Family
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 »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 »I want my Parents to be Buried Together
Here’s a question I got from a teenager: My mom is Jewish, my dad is Catholic, and my brother and I were raised Jewish. Last month they told us they had recently written their ethical wills and each plan to be buried in the cemetery of their own faith. I was so stunned that I…
Read More »I was Born Black and Jewish
Kim Carter Martinez is born Jewish and is tired of the questions: How did you get to be Jewish? OR How long have you been Jewish? She said, “I feel like saying, I got to be Jewish through my mother’s vagina.” I told her to go ahead and say that. People won’t forget. Kim in…
Read More »2016 BJB Programs for Interfaith Families
Happy 2016! This is a great time to commit to increase your understanding of your spouse/partner, learn more yourself and get to know others on the same path. Now is the time to consider what role your non-Jewish spouse will have in Jewish life. Time to think about how to balance your love of Judaism…
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