The number of Jewish and interfaith families who are adopting children is significant. Often these children are not Caucasian. As one very sweet Catholic social worker put it, “Jews don’t seem to mind what color their children are.” We take that as a big compliment! How do parents give their adopted child a feeling of…
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Adoption and Conversion
I’m in the planning stage of a program on adoption in interfaith/intercultural and Jewish families. As I spoke to various local people who are adoptive parents I got this email from Michael Tejeda, a gentleman who has been generous in sharing his insights. As you might expect, I have some opinions about this. I didn’t…
Read More »I Want All Streams of Judaism to see my Kids as Jewish
The email from this Jewish Dad is a pretty common view for men from Reform congregations. For that matter, it’s a pretty common view period. But what do you do when your opinion differs from that of others? I replied to him in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly. My wife is…
Read More »To Tree or not to Tree: What Will We Do for the Holidays?
You may want to decorate a Christmas tree while your partner wants to make latkes. What will work for you as a family? Whether December is your favorite month – full of Christmas cookies and chocolate gelt – or your most dreaded month – material surfeit and cultural overwhelm – you are invited to…
Read More »Raising a confident child
A wonderful couple I know have five grown children who are interracial and intercultural. The Chinese mom converted before marriage and is now trained as a mohel. The couple raised their children Jewish and Chinese. Yup, they got asked questions like, “Are you adopted?” “Is your mother Jewish?” “How come you’re in a synagogue;…
Read More »Raising a Confident Child in an Interfaith Family
A child needs happy, loving parents more than anything else. They also deserve to feel comfortable with their own identity. We’ll come together to discuss what parents are currently doing, what they may want to alter and to talk about planning for your child’s religious traditions. Date: Thursday, November 10 Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm…
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