A couple years ago I heard a mother interviewed on NPR. She was talking about her son, now a young adult, who had overcome serious learning disabilities. She said that her son had told her that despite all that he had gone through he would not wish away his condition because it had made him…
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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….
Read More »When a Child asks, Why Aren’t You Jewish?
Some parents fear this question. They aren’t sure what to say. Let’s consider the question and the possible answers. First, why is your child asking that question? You want to find out what she is thinking. Begin with, “what made you think of that, honey? Why do you ask?” Some possible reasons are: Your child…
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