Holidays – especially Christmas – bring out the craft ideas. This young woman wrote looking for a craft connection to Jewish holidays. Dear Dawn: I have always loved Christmas, especially the crafts that I make for the holiday. I create home decorations from candles to toys to table centerpieces, and I also love to make…
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Sukkot is a great “first” Jewish holiday for non-Jewish loved ones
Another letter from my Mixed and Matched column Dear Dawn: My friends and family agree with you that the High Holy Days were not the right time to introduce my boyfriend to Judaism. So when is the right time? I don’t want to scare him, but being Jewish is very important to me. I…
Read More »Should I baptize my baby just to put my in-laws ‘at peace’?
From my monthly advice column, Mixed and Matched. I receive a note from a well intended wife/mother/daughter-in-law I am Jewish and my non-Jewish husband and I had a baby six weeks ago. My mother-in-law is Christian and planning to visit us now that we’ve settled in. She called me and begged me to let…
Read More »Does my Jewish grandpa make me Jewish?
My mother’s father was raised Jewish, and so was his brother. The brother moved to Australia and raised a Jewish family, but my mother’s father gave up the Jewish faith and encouraged his children to adopt the religion of their new country, America. Am I Jewish by birth? There is a Reform synagogue not far…
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 »I Want to Identify as Half and Half
I received this question sent to my Mixed and Matched column. (Image from Wikicommons) This isn’t a common question, but it is not unheard of either. Sometimes the adult child of an interfaith couple wants to feel they are part of both their parents and they want others to reflect their choice. My father is…
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