March 2014 column of Mixed and Matched in the J-Weekly The question: I am Jewish and my husband is not. We adopted a girl, 8 months old, whose birth mother is not Jewish. We belong to a Reform synagogue and our rabbi said if we raise our daughter with Jewish lifecycle events and synagogue…
Read More »Conversion
Basic Judaism Classes Spring 2015
A number of organizations have basic Judaism classes that run from fall to spring but are offered in modules so it is easy to start the class throughout the year. Even if you see that a class has already started, give the synagogue or institution a call and see if you can join the class….
Read More »What’s in a Jewish Name?
Join B’nai Tikvah congregants for services on Friday January 9 at 6:30pm, when I will be speaking in the sermon slot. My subject is the special place name and naming rituals holds in Jewish tradition. This dovetails with the start of a new book of the Torah called Shemot, in which the Twelve Tribes of…
Read More »Basic Judaism classes – Fall 2014
Introduction to Judaism classes around the Bay! Starting September through November NEW! ** Don’t worry about missing the first class. I’m sure they will gladly bring you up to speed. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to sit down and get to know Rabbi Leider – one on one. Judaism 101 with Rabbi Susan Leider…
Read More »When one child is Jewish and the other is Not
Kveller, an online magazine published the first person story of a woman whose eldest daughter from her first marriage is not Jewish and her second daughter from a Jewish marriage, is Jewish. How this woman got to this place in life is interesting and is the result of being alive in a time when many…
Read More »A Patralineal Jew chooses to Convert
Michella Ore wrote a wonderful article for JVibe, a now out-of-print Jewish teen magazine, back in the spring of 2009. I contacted her recently to ask if I could reprint her article. I also asked her to give us an update on how her decisions were turning out for her. As a biracial daughter of…
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