Posted in Death and Mourning, Israel, Intermarriage on Jun 9th, 2009
This morning, I read a news story about a new cemetery in Kfar Saba, in Israel. The Jerusalem Post article about the cemetery notes that this cemetery will provide options for interfaith couples who want to be buried together. Civil burials have been legal in Israel since 1996, when the Knesset passed an […]
Posted in Israel, Conversion on May 24th, 2009
If you are a Jew by choice or a person who is married to a Jew who would like to become Jewish, it’s a pretty crazy time to live in Israel. On the one hand, Jews by choice, no matter who performed their conversions, are eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. […]
Posted in Jewish web resources, Israel, Friends of IFF on Feb 19th, 2009
Look at this! On April 8, the Jewish community will have its first opportunity in 28 years to bless the sun. Apparently, the rabbis in the Talmud, in Tractate Berachot 59a, recorded an earlier Jewish tradition about where the sun was in the sky when it was created. A group of Jewish environmental organizations (including, […]
Posted in Growing up in an Interfaith Family, Israel on Feb 13th, 2009
Birthright Israel is an amazing program that gives young Jews from all over the world a 10 day trip to Israel. The goal is to connect young Jewish adults to each other, their community and Israel. A variety of organizations facilitate the actual tours. This year Birthright Israel is celebrating its 10th year and their […]
Posted in Israel, Marketing Judaism on Feb 4th, 2009
One of the goals of InterfaithFamily.com is to advocate Jewish communal attitudes, policies and practices that are inclusive of interfaith families. In order for institutions to be accepting, their members have to be open minded. I read an article about a recent study that suggests the Jew community is coming around.
This week, the results of […]
Posted in Israel, Popular Culture, Humor, Other religions on Nov 20th, 2008
I do not know how things have come to this pass, but somehow, I have figured out an excuse two very good reasons to embed a Monty Python video on my work blog:
1. Monty Python has just announced their own Youtube channel. They are going to post all of their own material. So this is […]
Posted in Israel, Intermarriage on Nov 19th, 2008
Civil marriage in Israel may have a new (sort-of) champion in Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, one of the two leading candidates for prime minister of Israel.
Last week, The Forward reported that Livni promised that if she wins in February, she will allow civil marriage for the 350,000 Russian-speaking immigrants and their children who are caught in the so-called “marriage trap.” In […]
Posted in December Holidays, Shabbat and Other Holidays, Growing up in an Interfaith Family, Israel, Popular Culture, Intermarriage on Nov 14th, 2008
A story in IsraelNationalNews.com commenting on the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as President-Elect Obama’s chief of staff, and of Ron Klain as Vice President-Elect Biden’s chief of staff, leads with:
“Both appointees are Jewish, but while Emanuel is an observant Jew, Klain intermarried more than 20 years ago and his family observes Christmas.”
This is the kind of […]
Posted in Death and Mourning, Israel, Popular Culture on Nov 12th, 2008
I wonder if this movie, Shiva, about a Jewish family from Morocco mourning for a family member will be released in English? I found the trailer, in Hebrew with French subtitles, on the South Jerusalem blog. I think the trailer is interesting to watch even if you don’t know the languages, but you tell […]
Posted in Israel, Other religions on Jun 10th, 2008
In this Middle Eastern country, a woman of the majority religion married a man from another religion. Her family had no problems with it, but the couple lives in fear of being exposed to the religious authorities as an interfaith couple. Meanwhile, the majority of this state’s young people support a couple’s right to civil […]
