Old FAQ

What is InterfaithFamily.com?
InterfaithFamily.com is an independent non-profit publisher and advocacy association that encourages Jewish choices by interfaith families and acceptance of interfaith families by the Jewish community. InterfaithFamily.com is the only national organization that focuses exclusively on reaching, working with and encouraging interfaith families themselves, and advocating on a grass-roots level as their "voice" -- a voice that must continue to be heard.

InterfaithFamily.com has four main initiatives:
*The InterfaithFamily.com bi-weekly online magazine on topics of interest to interfaith families;
*The InterfaithFamily.com online community, with more than 50 active discussion boards;
*"Connections In Your Area," a searchable organization and program listing calendar with listings for 260 organizations in communities around North America; and
*The InterfaithFamily.com Network, a membership association that advocates to make the Jewish community genuinely welcoming and inclusive of interfaith families.

What is the organization's mission?
InterfaithFamily.com's mission is to empower interfaith families to make Jewish choices for themselves and their children, and to encourage the Jewish community to be welcoming of interfaith families. Through our website and our advocacy membership association, the InterfaithFamily.com Network, we provide supportive educational information, connect interfaith families to local Jewish communities, build community, and advocate for inclusive attitudes, policies and practices.

Who sponsors it?
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, InterfaithFamily.com depends on tax-deductible charitable contributions and grants for its funding to make our work possible. Our small staff is very productive: we publish an issue of our Internet magazine every two weeks, maintain current listings of programs for interfaith families, and moderate online discussions. We enjoy the support of an involved Board of Directors, an Advisory Board, and other individuals including members of the InterfaithFamily.com Network, as well as institutional funders including the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, the Koret Foundation, and the Rita and Harold Divine Foundation.

If InterfaithFamily.com is a non-profit, why doesn't it have a .org URL?
Our mission is to reach as many people in interfaith relationships as we can. People don't visit .org websites as much as .com websites, that's the reason our URL is a .com. Many other non-profits have .com URL's; there is no requirement that non-profits have .org URL's.

How can I support InterfaithFamily.com?
There are a number of ways. First, you can become a Supporting Member of the InterfaithFamily.com Network for a tax-deductible contribution of $36 per year -- the equivalent of a $3.00 a month donation, less than you might pay for one coffee drink -- to support a resource that is here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To learn more, including how you can join, visit Join the Network. Second, write articles for our biweekly webzine; we welcome your article, story and topic ideas -- email them to Ronnie Friedland at ronnief@InterfaithFamily.com.

Why support InterfaithFamily.com?
If each person who visits InterfaithFamily.com agreed to donate the equivalent of just $3.00 a month -- $36.00 a year -- InterfaithFamily.com could guarantee we would be able not only to continue to provide our readers with timely supportive information, but also to expand and offer more and better services for interfaith families. There's so much more we want to do -- provide new sections of our website for young adults and grandparents, create educational resources for temples, religious schools and Jewish centers, expand our resource listings -- and the list goes on. We would go a long way toward reducing our dependence on major gifts. In fact, a show of such grass-roots support would in all likelihood result in increased major gifts from foundations and philanthropic individuals!

Why is it important for the Jewish community to welcome interfaith families?
The debate in the Jewish community about what to do about the continuing high rate of intermarriage continues. The important issue remains whether we will respond positively and seek to increase the numbers of interfaith families -- 33 percent in 2000, up from 28 percent in 1990 -- who raise their children as Jews. The key is to maximize efforts to welcome interfaith families. InterfaithFamily.com is a major voice in the debate, speaking out on behalf of interfaith families and stressing their potentially positive impact on the Jewish community.

Interfaith families connect with Jewish life at varied times and in random ways, a variety that highlights the importance of always standing ready to capitalize on opportunities to welcome. They connect before weddings, when children are born or start school or reach Bar/Bat Mitzvah age, when they go to college, and later. They read articles and books; they see advertisements for outreach programs in Jewish newspapers or parenting magazines or in emails forwarded by friends or in Temple bulletins; they find a welcome as a young adult at their college Hillel, or as a young mother in her child's Jewish pre-school; they are put in touch with someone who welcomes them.

Traditionally, kol yisrael areivim zeh l'zeh, every Jew is responsible for every other Jew. To strengthen the Jewish community by increasing the participation of interfaith families, every Jew also should be responsible to be aware of and sensitive to, and to take advantage of, every opportunity to invite interfaith families into Jewish life. Or, as one InterfaithFamily.com writer put it, "to put a bit more faith into interfaith marriages."

What role is InterfaithFamily.com playing in advocating that the Jewish community welcome interfaith families?
In the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's lead story that appeared in numerous Jewish papers, InterfaithFamily.com was the first "pro-outreach" voice commenting on the National Jewish Population Survey results in September 2003. Unfortunately, important Jewish leaders continue to express extremely negative attitudes towards intermarriage and outreach to the intermarried, so our advocacy as a strong pro-outreach voice is now as important as ever. Our position remains unique among the national organizations working to make the Jewish communal response to intermarriage a positive one. InterfaithFamily.com is the only national organization that focuses on reaching, working with and encouraging interfaith families themselves, and advocating on a grass-roots level as their "voice" -- a voice that must continue to be heard.

Many articles seem to be written by readers. Can I submit articles or topics to be covered?
We welcome your input. Please contact our editor, Ronnie Friedland, at ronnief@InterfaithFamily.com, if you're interested in writing or to suggest topics you'd like us to address.

How does InterfaithFamily.com fit in with mainstream Jewish organizations?
InterfaithFamily.com works closely with other Jewish organizations, including the Reform Movement, many Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist synagogues, the United Jewish Communities, the Jewish Community Centers Association, the Association of Jewish Family & Children's Agencies, and many federations and organizations including Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, the Jewish Outreach Institute, the Stepping Stones National Institute, PlanitJewish.com, Jewish Family & Life and more.