For Rosh Hashanah morning services I was at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. You can image how my heart swelled with joy when Rabbi Perlman called her non-Jewish members to the Torah and offered this blessing: —– Today we want to recognize and publicly acknowledge for blessing those among our community who do not identify as…
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A Mixed and Matched column from February 2017. I’m Jewish and just married a woman who grew up with no religious traditions. She celebrates the Hallmark holidays like Christmas, but doesn’t go to church. I’m an only child and my parents are totally understanding of our relationship and are open to us raising the kids…
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It’s JUNE! Summer brings big changes to Jewish institutions and synagogues. You’d think it were the year 100 and we were all farmers again. There are very few holidays in the summer, Hebrew school is closed, rabbis go on vacation, apparently Jews are tending their gardens and flocks. However, many synagogues take advantage of…
Read More »Another question sent to my Mixed and Matched column in the Jweekly. My husband is Jewish; I’m not. This is a second marriage for both of us, and we raised our kids within our own religions. My husband attended synagogue as he was raising his children, but I never had a religious community. I guess…
Read More »I’ve been pleased and impressed by Rabbi Larry Milder‘s clear statements about acceptance within his synagogue, Beth Emek of Pleasanton. Here’s another good one that he sent to his congregation. Are You Gay? Lesbian? Transgender? We Welcome You! I am heterosexual. I expect my synagogue to be accepting of my gender identity. I was born…
Read More »Another good email from Rabbi Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton. Are You a Person of Color? We Welcome You! Here’s the punch line that doesn’t work anymore: “Funny, you don’t look Jewish!” There’s no such thing as looking Jewish, and there probably never was, unless you go back to the very origins of the…
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.