(This letter originally appeared in my Mixed and Matched column for the J-weekly on Nov. 17, 2020) Dear Dawn: Can I first say how impactful and helpful I have found your writing? I am a non-Jew in a relationship with a Jewish man. I love him, and his Orthodox identity is a big part of…
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(This article was first published in my Mixed and Matched column in the J-weekly on Nov. 11, 2014) Dear Dawn, My wife loves Christmas, and it makes me so uncomfortable. I know I’m a Scrooge every December, but I just can’t help it. She doesn’t go to church, but she decorates the hell out of…
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Dear Dawn: I am Jewish and my wife is an atheist (family hasn’t been Christian for three generations so there are no issues with that). We had a Jewish wedding and agreed to raise our future child Jewish. While we were engaged, my wife took a yearlong conversion prep class (didn’t convert). But since our marriage…
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I didn’t marry my Jewish fiancé and it worked out OK. Dear Dawn: I hope you remember me; I wanted to tell you what happened after my fiancé and I met with you several years ago. I am Catholic and he is Jewish. We wanted to figure out how to raise children in an interfaith marriage….
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Dear Dawn: How many times do I have to hear a Jewish parent worry about the future of their child’s romance with a non-Jew? At a recent lunch with several Jewish girlfriends, one worried out loud about her son’s non-Jewish girlfriend. There is always this focus on the non-Jewish girlfriend/boyfriend’s perceived level of interest (or lack…
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Beth Am, Lehrhaus Judaica and Building Jewish Bridges present a photo essay exhibition showcasing the range of diversity in our community. The exhibition features 23 intimate portraits of individuals and families from a variety of backgrounds and levels of religious observance — from the North and South Peninsulas, San Francisco, Oakland/Berkeley, Contra Costa, and Marin….
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