Posted in Outreach on Jul 25th, 2008
As a member of the Jewish Outreach Institute’s Big Tent Judaism, we recently received JOI’s newest outreach tool, a business-card sized glossary to common Jewish terms. This little pamphlet, called “Cracking the Code,” defines words familiar to insiders–like Shabbat, minyan, Reform Judaism, Hillel–but often bewildering to outsiders.
It’s a great little resource; I gave one to a non-Jewish […]
Posted in Outreach, Synagogues, Marketing Judaism on Jun 16th, 2008
Young unmarried Jews are just as interested in Judaism as their married peers, a surprising new study shows. What’s different, say co-authors Steven M. Cohen and Ari Y. Kelman, is that they avoid affiliating with synagogues, federations and JCCs in part because those institutions are so focused on the traditional family unit.
Uncoupled: How Our Singles Are […]
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 Outreach, Intermarriage on Mar 26th, 2008
Shalom TV, which bills itself as a “mainstream Jewish television network”, sent us an email entitled “Intermarriage Threatens Jewish Future.”
Oy vey.
The enclosed press release described a roundtable discussion between some of the Jewish communal experts who are most alarmed by interfaith marriage.
In the Jewish community, we generally celebrate diversity of opinion on questions. You know […]
Posted in Parenting/raising children, Outreach on Feb 15th, 2008
Keeping with Wednesday’s theme, I’d like to write about two very different recently published articles.
In Thursday’s The (New York) Jewish Week, Julie Wiener writes about an organization that commits “the ultimate taboo”: teaching both Judaism and Christianity to the children of interfaith couples. Going to visit the Interfaith Community’s religious school in Long Island, she […]
Posted in Outreach, Intermarriage on Feb 6th, 2008
The Conservative movement’s rabbinical organization may rethink its ban on intermarried speakers at its conventions, according to Ben Harris of JTA.
“The policy is we will only invite speakers who are either single or, if they are married, are not intermarried,” said Rabbi Joel Meyers, the R[abbinical] A[ssembly]’s vice president.
Which is proving to be a problem […]
Posted in Outreach, Intermarriage on Jan 28th, 2008
Arnold Eisen’s inauguration as the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary last fall has generated a fair amount of excitement in the Jewish world. As the first non-rabbi to serve in the role in more than 65 years and one of the leading sociologists of American Jewry, he is widely seen as bringing a fresh perspective […]
Posted in December holidays, Outreach, Popular culture, Conversion on Dec 28th, 2007
It’s a little late, but I need to pass along this amusing story of the Jewish daughter of a Jewish mom and a Christian dad named Sarah Christmas.
The Forward has a wonderful story about a group of 55 African-Americans who converted to Judaism in Cairo, Ill.–home to 40 churches and only 4,000 people.
Also in The […]
Posted in Outreach on Dec 18th, 2007
While I was at the Reform movement’s biennial last week, Anthony Weiss suggested in the Forward (Intermarriage Study Muddies Waters, December 12) that Boston’s figure of 60% of interfaith families raising their children as Jews may not be the result of its CJP-funded outreach programs, contrary to a Forward op-ed I co-wrote last year.
Weiss first […]
Posted in Interfaith identity, Outreach, Popular culture, IFF in the news on Nov 30th, 2007
So I have to apologize for the long layoff. Thanksgiving, combined with site overhaul business and preparing our report on the 2007 December holidays survey, has kept me away from the blogosphere for several weeks. I make no promises of a return to daily blogging until 2008, but here’s a grab bag of goodies that […]
