Posted in Statistics on Apr 30th, 2008
At the Reform rabbinical convention in late March, the two leading academics in the debate over intermarriage squared off. In one corner was Leonard Saxe, director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University. In the other corner was Steven Cohen, research professor of Jewish social […]
Posted in Outreach, Interdating on Apr 29th, 2008
Earlier this year, JDate began offering bulk-rate discounts on JDate subscriptions for rabbis interested in promoting Jewish dating among younger, unmarried members of their congregations. Nothing wrong with that, although the measure is more symbolic than practical, given the small number of young, unmarried people in most synagogues. And the kind of young, unmarried Jews who join synagogues […]
Posted in Passover, Friends of IFF on Apr 22nd, 2008
Consider this a belated cleaning of online hametz:
Julie Wiener recently wrote about the growth of local Mothers’ Circle chapters for the Wall Street Journal. The Mothers Circle, a program for non-Jewish women raising Jewish children, now has chapters in 26 communities.
Wiener also wrote a great pre-Passover piece for AP on Passover food and how strange […]
Posted in Passover, Intermarriage on Apr 18th, 2008
The prolific Shmuel Rosner gives Slate an overview of the latest exchanges of fire in the Jewish intermarriage wars. It’s nothing earth-shattering, covering studies that have been reported on elsewhere, but the opening anecdote nearly made my head explode. Rosner relays the story of a 30-something Jewish woman married to a Catholic man who walks […]
Posted in Purim, Passover, Parenting/raising children on Apr 16th, 2008
My five-year-old son is very subtle. The morning after our Havurah Purim party, my son told me, “You know, not everyone knows what a Purimspiel is.”
“But you do, honey, because we saw one last night. It was the play people were acting out, about Queen Esther.”
He nodded. “But not everyone knows what that is.”
Sometimes my […]
Posted in Popular culture, Other religions on Apr 16th, 2008
I always thought that Tom Hanks’ wife, Rita Wilson, was a charming woman and a good actress. She met Tom when she played an idealistic Jewish Peace Corps member in the 1985 film, Volunteers. Hanks starred as a WASP playboy who joined the Peace Corps to get out of the country just ahead of some […]
Posted in Parenting/raising children on Apr 15th, 2008
I saw a very interesting one-act on Sunday. Called “Both Sides of the Family,” it tells the parallel stories of an Episcopalian woman raising Jewish children in a Conservadox community and a twice-married Jewish man with Jewish children from his first wife and Christian children from his second. It was created and produced by the Charenton Theater Company of […]
Posted in Other religions on Apr 11th, 2008
The Pope is coming to the U.S. for the first time next week, making stops in Washington, D.C., and New York on his five-day trip. What does this mean for interfaith families?
Like his predecessor John Paul II (and really, like any mainstream Catholic official), Benedict XVI is pro-life, anti-death penalty, anti-birth control and anti-homosexuality. He also follows the recent trend […]
Posted in Passover, Popular culture on Apr 3rd, 2008
I like any opportunity to show how Jewish culture can be integrated with other cultures and make a beautiful hybrid. I don’t know what culture should take responsibility for marshmallow Peeps, but I think you’ll join me in enjoying Peeps for Passover. Yes! The 10 Plagues, acted out by PEEPS! (No, no, Peeps are not […]
Posted in Interfaith identity, Parenting/raising children, Statistics on Apr 1st, 2008
InterfaithFamily.com has been in the press lately, and I just wanted to share some of the articles and some quotes with you.
Julie Wiener wrote a column this past week on why her interfaith family is committed to lighting Shabbat candles. She found out she’s not unusual:
Interestingly, there are quite a few of us die-hard candle-lighting […]
