In my January 2014 column, Mixed and Matched, I shared a letter from a Jewish Dad who felt his wife was not doing enough to raise his children as Jews. After reading the article a gentleman who is the non-Jewish husband in a couple who has participated in my programs wrote a very astute article…
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A Non-Jewish Mother Reflects on Raising Jewish Children
In January 2014 my Mixed and Matched column addressed the concerns a Jewish Dad had about his wife’s ‘failure’ to raise the kids Jewish. Many people reacted to the article with some anger at his failure to take responsibility for raising his own children. But some non-Jewish spouses had other thoughts. One non-Jewish mother had…
Read More »What Will Your Family’s Narrative Be?
Couples often tell me that they want their children to have a religion that will teach the children good values. That’s a great start but it is certainly not a sufficient reason to choose to have a religion practiced in the home. First, you don’t need religion to be a person of principle and decency….
Read More »Are there “right” and “wrong” roles for interfaith parents?
Who is Right? Last month I wrote a column for the JWeekly and shared the story of a Jewish man who was relying on his non-Jewish wife to ‘raise the kids Jewish.’ I got some very different reactions to it. Some people came down hard on the man saying he should be stepping up to…
Read More »No Follow Thru on Raising Jewish Kids
I’ve begun writing a column, Mixed and Matched, for the local San Francisco Bay Area Jewish newspaper, the J-Weekly. My first column is No Follow-through on Agreement to Raise Jewish Kids. A Jewish father wrote to me: I’m Jewish, my wife is not. I told her before we got married that I wanted our kids…
Read More »Writing Your Ethical Will (clarifying your common goals)
An ethical will is not a legal document and does not distribute material goods. It is a means by which you can share your values, blessings, hopes and dreams for the future of your loved ones. Ethical wills are not new. References to this tradition are found in Torah (Genesis 18:19) and in other cultures….
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