How do you tell your parents about the different choices you’ve made? It can be hard to say, we’re raising the kids Jewish. We will/won’t have a Christmas tree. The baby will/won’t be baptized, receive a bris, have a bar mitzvah. What can we tell the non-Jewish grandparents about what is appropriate and how they…
Read More »Relationships
Can we find something to worry about? How about food?
A Jewish woman marrying a non-Jewish man sent in this angst-ridden question to Boston’s Jewish Journal: I am marrying into a lovely family that is not Jewish. My family is hosting a dinner to meet the future in-laws. My mother, who prides herself on being a superb cook, is planning to serve all her Jewish…
Read More »Here Comes Passover!
Navigating the Interfaith Elements of the Holiday Grab a frozen yogurt at Menchie’s and join other Jewish spouses as we discuss the challenges of observing Passover while being sensitive to your non-Jewish spouse’s needs & wishes. Will this be a week-long observance or just one night? Will there be bread in your home? Will your…
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 »“The Holidays” — Happy or just Greedy?
(Photo credit: Maggie Semple Blog) Here it comes, the holidays! The time that songs tell us is “the happiest time of the year.” Which raises the question, what makes us happy? American capitalist culture has a perpetual campaign to answer that question with THINGS! Things will make you happy! Cars, electronics, toys, whatever they are…
Read More »Interfaith Couples Discussion Group
Discussion Series for Interfaith/Intercultural Couples Interfaith couples get it – this is going to take some discussion, some compromise. But what exactly is ‘fair’? Can each of us get what we want and that will be OK for our kids? Then there’s our parents, grandparents, and siblings – how do we get them on board…
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