A girl with a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father was raised with no religion, and outside of Jewish culture. Decades later, as an adult, she immersed herself in Jewish life–secular and religious. This led her to be curious about other others who had one Jewish parent: how had they been raised? And how were…
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Do You Have One Jewish Parent?
Are you male and grew up in an interfaith home? I am trying to balance out the ratio of male to female interviewees. Women seem to be more willing to share their thoughts and experiences. Guys! Time to jump on the train! We need your voices! *** A couple years ago I asked Dr. Bruce…
Read More »I’m Jewish, she’s Asian—what will our future kids be?
Another question from my Mixed and Matched column in the J-Weekly. I’m a 26-year-old Conservative Jew and celebrate the major Jewish holidays, although I’m not terribly religious. I’ve been dating a Korean girl who is Catholic but also not very religious. We are getting serious and I’m scared. I do love her, she’s my…
Read More »Are Our Children Jewish?
Patralineal Descent, Reform Judaism & Those Other Jews In 1983 the Reform movement officially recognized children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. But if you read the statement it says that every child of a mixed marriage, whether the mother or father is Jewish, must establish their identity as a Jew “through appropriate and timely public…
Read More »One of Us is Jewish But We’ve Chosen Christianity, Now What?
The Christian spouse knows how to ‘do’ Christianity and is supported in this by our American Christian culture, but you may still want to introduce a concept of Jewish heritage to your child. We’ll discuss how to offer the concept of Jewish roots without disrupting your child’s Christian identity. Also, if your child’s mother is…
Read More »Religious & Cultural Identity for Your Child & Your Home
Interfaith Couples Raising Children: Identity for Your Child & Your Home Three Workshops, come to one or come to all of them Choosing a religious identity for your child is often feels like the hardest decision an interfaith couple faces. If both of you are attached to your religious/cultural heritage you may have gotten stuck…
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