Web Magazine

February 13, 2007

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Dear friend,

Think back to the hours before your first date with your partner. Remember reshuffling your hairdo in endless combinations? Remember the rumbling anxiety in your stomach? Remember fantasizing about how the night would go? For some it was essential their dates shared the same religious background. For most of us, it was more important to meet someone whom we felt a connection with, whose conversation we enjoyed, who laughed at our jokes. In the new issue of our Web Magazine , we hear from men and women who've dated people of another faith--and lived to tell about it.

Lia Del Sesto, a Catholic, and her boyfriend, a Jew, considered themselves the "ambassadors of love." But he broke it off when he couldn't reconcile his guilt over dating a non-Jew with his love for Lia. Several years later, Del Sesto reflects on The Piece That Remains .

Zack Kushner's dad is a rabbi, and he let his son date whoever he wanted--despite what other people thought. Read more in The Family Business .

What will Ezra Werb's parents think when they meet his Mormon girlfriend? Find out in The Beastie Boys, Jesus and Me .

When an interfaith relationship ends, it can be hard to determine what part religion played--if any. Rhonda Moskowitz tries to sort it out in The Elephant in Our Relationship .

Looking around at High Holiday services, Andrea Lavinthal wonders: where did all these Jewish boyfriends come from? Find out in the amusing Going to Temple: A BYOJB Affair .

Melanie Weiss has declared a temporary moratorium on dating non-Jews. Will it stick? Read more in One Jew or Two? The "Continuity Crisis" Hits Home .

At Passover seders with her first boyfriend's family, Whitney Campbell was always the most energetic singer of Chad Gadya. But she came to realize that they never seriously imagined him marrying a Protestant. Read more in More Than a Succubus: Confessions of a Shiksa .

A chance meeting with a smart, funny, gracious Jewish-looking American causes an Israeli to reflect on what it means to be Jewish, in Orit's My Date with Chris .

Interdating Resources

Nervous about talking to your children about interdating? Our  Tips for Talking to Your Children About Interdating  can help.

Also, for more articles and resources on interdating, check out our Interdating Resource Page .

Arts and Entertainment

Stephen Frears, the director of The Queen, didn't learn he was Jewish until his 20s, says Nate Bloom in the new installment of Interfaith Celebrities . Also covered: the host of "Ego Trip's (White) Rapper Show" and a new castmember on "Heroes."

A new young adult book chronicles a nice Jewish girl's crush on her hunky non-Jewish neighbor. Find out why Lynn Melnick is Not Crazy About Goy Crazy .

Religious differences take a backseat to power dynamics in Flannel Pajamas, an intriguing new film about an interfaith relationship. Read Michael Fox's review .

News

A controversial new study suggests that the Jewish community is splitting into "two Jewries"--the inmarried and the intermarried--and the gap is growing. Read more.

What's New on the Blogs

On the IFF Network Blog, we've recently written about "I Love New York," a story in The Forward on intermarriage--from 1907, and whether fear of intermarriage equals xenophobia .

Coming Next

We'll return on February 27 with our issue on differences in interfaith issues through the lifecycle.

Sincerely,

Micah Sachs, Online Managing Editor

Write for Us!

We're looking for writers on the following topics:

• Have you ever been approached by a Messianic Jew? We want to hear what happened.
• Baby ceremonies, or transitioning to becoming a parent
• Participating in a ritual because your child/parent/partner wants to
• Divorce, Blended Families, etc.  

Interested in any of these topics? Contact Web Magazine Editor Ronnie Friedland at editor@interfaithfamily.com .

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