Where and how will each of us be buried? I’ve been asked how to plan for a funeral in an interfaith family. What things should be taken into consideration in order to plan for that inevitable day when one spouse must bury the other? Can the non-Jew be buried in a Jewish cemetery? Who will…
Read More »When we look at this photograph of a relief on the Arch of Titus celebrating his siege and destruction of Jerusalem, that historical event can feel as old and foreign as the stones depicting it. Yet for Jews the idea of ‘never forget’ is not a new one. Jews remember the events of the past,…
Read More »Laws and Customs of the three Weeks, the Nine Days & Tisha B’Av The 17th of Tammuz, commemorating the fall of Jerusalem prior to the destruction of the Temple, marks the beginning of a 3 week national period of mourning culminating with the 9th of Av. The five events which we mourn on the 17th…
Read More »It can be quite difficult for some non-Jews to grasp the profound depth of feeling that many Jews have about the Holocaust. I’ve heard non-Jews says, “Why dwell on something so terrible? Just get on with your life.” Others fear that it will frighten the children or that negative thinking will bring on negative events….
Read More »This year — 2013/5773 — Holocaust Memorial Day begins at sunset on April 7. Community observances will take place from April 7 to April 10 around the bay. Anyone is welcome to attend any of the memorials and you should expect large crowds. We still have among us the generation who lived through the Holocaust,…
Read More »I think the best time to talk about death is on a summer day when dying seems preposterous and one can’t be sad because the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and all is right with the world. So let’s take a moment and talk about Death and Mourning while it is not at…
Read More »Our weekly email goes out to hundreds of interfaith couples & families in the Bay Area. Topics cover the many questions and mysteries that interfaith couples want answered.