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Secular Judaism Articles Index

Survey: Children of Intermarriage Identify as Jews Some of the Time
Fishkoff, Sue
Issue 159

News story on a 2005 survey of adult children of intermarried parents that showed a high level of Jewish cultural identification and interest in Jewish studies, combined with low levels of childhood Jewish education and religious attachment.

Date: 5/24/2005


Thoughts on Being a Bubbie
Tupa, Mae
Issue 175

Personal narrative by a bubbie (Jewish grandmother), all of whose grandchildren are being raised as Jews, despite changes in a family complexion due to divorce and intermarriage.

Date: 1/17/2006


Mixed Background Times Three
Nobleman, Marc Tyler
Issue 160

Personal narrative in which an American Jewish man recounts the religious, historical, and cultural tensions of dating and marrying a German Protestant woman.

Date: 6/7/2005


Differences?
Mann, Paulette
Issue 159

Personal narrative by grandmother whose husband died describing the sweet and sensitive responses of all of her grandchildren, those raised Jewish and those raised Christian, and the support she felt from all of them.

Date: 5/24/2005


When Judaism Isn’t Kosher
Weintraub, David
Issue 157

Personal narrative from a proud secular Jew raised in Yiddish schools, extolling the values and strength of secular Judaism--especially in an interfaith marriage.

Date: 4/26/2005


A Secular, Blended Passover
Felsen, Michael
Issue 180

Personal narrative article describing a secular Passover celebration at the Workman's Circle.

Date: 3/27/2006


Why We Call Them Intercultural Weddings: A Secular Humanistic Jewish Approach
Jerris, Miriam
Issue 64

Professional advice explaining the position of Secular Humanistic Jews, who accept intermarriage as the joining of people from two different backgrounds yet similar values.

Date: 6/1/2001


Thoughts on Secular Conversion: An Important Alternative to Religious Conversion
Beilin, Yossi
Issue 20

Op-ed from a prominent Israeli leader on why those who wish to be identified as Jews should be granted the right to join the Jewish people on the basis of their own self-definition--not on the definition of the Orthodox religious establishment.

Date: 10/1/1999


Who She Was
Freedman, Samuel G.
Issue 164

Personal narrative about a man's mother, who had wanted to intermarry when she was young, but gave in to her mother's strong opposition and married a Jew.

Date: 8/2/2005


Connecting with Judaism Because of My Secular Spouse
Hagler, Gina
Issue 158

Personal narrative from an intermarried non-Jewish woman who agreed to raise her children Jewish, but didn't realize her husband was a secular Jew.

Date: 5/10/2005


How My Hunger for History Helped Me Reclaim My Judaism
Eisenfeld, Sue
Issue 167

Personal narrative by a secular Jewish woman who, after reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, became interested in Judaism and Jewish history, and decided to fast on Yom Kippur for the first time in her life.

Date: 9/20/2005


The Best of InterfaithFamily.com: Our Picks
Issue 200

Compilation of InterfaithFamily.com's staff's selections for their favorite articles from 1998-2006.

Date: 1/16/2007


An Intercultural Celebration
Mahony, Karin
Issue 144

Personal narrative article about a born Catholic woman who converted to Judaism, as did her sister. Now, at her son's Bar Mitzvah, she carefully includes her non-Jewish family members in the service, and the result is a great feeling of acceptance, love and unity.

Date: 10/1/2004


Tribal vs. Covenantal Jewish Identity
Schwarz, Rabbi Sidney
Issue 171

Professional advice that "the Jewish community would do well to soften its boundaries" since so many Jews attribute their social and political justice work to their Jewish roots and traditions.  Most surveys, like the National Jewish Population survey, exclude those expressions of Jewish identity in defining "Who is a Jew?" 

Date: 11/15/2005


Study of Interfaith Kids Upends Ideas of Identity
Siegel, Jennifer
Issue 165

A news article about a recent study of children of interfaith families which found that they maintain strong cultural ties to the Jewish community, despite low levels of religious identification.

Date: 8/16/2005


What's Different about Gay Wedding Ceremonies?
Jerris, Rabbi Miriam
Issue 111

Professional view from a Secular Humanist rabbi describing gay wedding ceremonies she has developed and officiated.

Date: 6/1/2003


A Converstion with Eugene L. Pogany, author of In My Brother's Image: Twin Brothers Separated by Faith After the Holocaust
Bolton-Fasman, Judith
Issue 56

Profile of Eugene L. Pogany, author of In My Brother's Image: Twin Brothers Separated by Faith After the Holocaust, about his family's experience with conversion and the Holocaust..

Date: 2/1/2001


Activism as an Aphrodisiac
Eisenfeld, Sue
Issue 171

Personal narrative about how wanting to improve the world drew an interfaith couple together and keeps them united.

Date: 11/15/2005


Cultural Judaism Opens the Door for Alienated Jews
Baron, Myrna
Issue 131

Op-ed from the executive director of the Center for Cultural Judaism explaining how cultural Judaism is not a "lazy man's' approach to Judaism--it's based in scholarship and reason.

Date: 4/1/2004


Expanded Line
Mann, Paulette
Issue 172

Personal narrative about a grandparent who chooses to accept her children's choices and make the best of it.

Date: 11/29/2005


Learning Tolerance and Compassion from My Husband
Amir, Nina
Issue 101

The personal narrative of a Jewish woman whose Southern Baptist husband helped to teach her about tolerance when he converted to Judaism.

Date: 1/1/2003


Interfaith or Intercultural?
Feder, Sue
Issue 119

Personal narrative about why the marriage between a Jew and a Catholic from different socio-economic backgrounds worked out better than marriages between two lower-middle class Jews or two middle-middle class Catholics:  similar values and outlooks on life mattered more. 

Date: 10/1/2003


Musings about My Catholic Grandchildren from the Desk of Rabbi Miriam Jerris
Jerris, Rabbi Miriam
Issue 138

Professional advice and personal narrative from a rabbi who realizes that her Christian grandchildren do not know her very well, and is unsure of how they can connect on a more personal level at such a young age.

Date: 7/1/2004


Welcoming the New Jews
Forward Editorial
Issue 165

Reprinted editorial concluding that the Jewish community needs to do a better job of welcoming  kids of interfaith families, based on a study that found they maintain strong cultural ties to the Jewish community, despite low levels of affiliation.

Date: 8/16/2005


A Quilt? A Stew? Who Are We, Anyway?
Arking, Linda
Issue 96

Personal narrative about how one mutli-cultural and multi-faith family celebrates Thanksgiving:  with food from each culture, reminiscences about the family's and recipes' origins, and lots of talk about thankfulness.

Date: 11/1/2002


New Pathway: Ann Arbor's Jewbilation Offers Another Option for Intermarrieds.
Dorfman, Shelli Liebman
Issue 126

A news article about Jewbilation, a philosophy that incorporations many Jewish traditions and is designed for interfaith families.

Date: 1/1/2004


Challenges for an Interfaith Grandmother
Brodley, Flo
Issue 137

Personal narrative from a Jewish grandma who was nonobservant but wants her intermarried daughter to have her kids bar mitzvahed.

Date: 7/1/2004


Passover in Paris
Cohen, Jayne
Issue 180

Professional view and personal narrative from a woman who made Passover seders in Paris for her daughter and her friends, including recipes.

Date: 3/27/2006


A Multicultural Passover, a Solemn Easter, and a Celebration of Spring
Jerris, Ph.D., Rabbi Miriam S.
Issue 180

Professional view and personal narrative from the director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism about Passover and Easter celebrations in her household.

Date: 3/27/2006


Passing Down Identity
Edni, Ariana
Issue 154

Personal narrative from the daughter of an Italian Catholic mom and an Israeli dad reflecting on her Jewish identity, and her gaps in Jewish knowledge.

Date: 3/15/2005


The Winds of Change through the Window of Interfaith Marriages
Weintraub, David
Issue 170

A personal narrative about am intermarried Jew and Irish Catholic who realize that their religions share the same priniples and values.

Date: 11/1/2005


Rashevski’s Tango Explores What Makes Someone Jewish
Coon, Cheryl F.
Issue 172
Review of film about interfaith relationships in one family and how the Holocaust affected them.

 

Date: 11/29/2005


The Shepherd’s Tale
Brawarsky, Sandee
Issue 164

Article about an author who spends time with a shepherd born to interfaith parents in Austria, in an attempt by the author to learn about his ancestors and the anti-Semitism that killed them.

Date: 8/2/2005


Culturally Catholic
McMahon, Teresa
Issue 131

The personal narrative of a woman who chose not to convert to Judaism because she feels as though she culturally relates to her Catholic upbringing.

Date: 4/1/2004


Former Teen Heartthrob Finds Peace in Academia after Years in Hollywood
Gordon, Buzzy
Issue 113

Profile of Robby Benson who started in The Chosen and is now moving to North Carolina to teach at Appalachian State University.

Date: 7/1/2003


Translating Between Two Worlds: An Interview with Rebecca Walker
Bolton Fasman, Judith
Issue 53

Profile of Rebecca Walker, daughter or Alice Walker and Mel Leventhal, and author of her new memoir Black White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self.

Date: 1/1/2001


High Holidays, New York, 2002
Avila, Linda Arking
Issue 91

Personal narrative and general information article about a secular humanistic intermarried couple, and the reasons why they chose Secular Humanism, for example, its philosophy that "for secular households, the difference in faith is not a problem," and both partners are not only welcomed, but are equals. 

Date: 8/1/2002


Thank God My Husband Is a Former Presbyterian/Quaker Agnostic
Eisenfeld, Sue
Issue 145

Personal narrative from an intermarried Jewish woman who says her Jewish identity is in her religious practice, it's in her salivary glands, her genes, her brain and her temperament.

Date: 10/1/2004


Opening Our Gates and Arms: Adopting Judaism, Adopting Jews
Jerris, Rabbi Miriam
Issue 182

A Secular Humanistic rabbi describes their process of adopting Judaism.

Date: 4/25/2006


Jewish Knowledge Reaches Deep into Howard Dean's Past--and His Home
Berger, Matthew E.
Issue 125

Interview with Howard Dean that focuses on his intermarriage, his knowledge and practicing of Jewish culture and rituals, and the local Jewish community's response.



Cokie and Steve Reveal the Secrets of Their Happiness
Sher, Cindy
Issue 67

Profile of Cokie Roberts which focuses on her intermarriage to Steve Roberts and the story of how they've raised their children in both faiths.

Date: 8/1/2001


We Don't Need No Stinkin' Religion: A New Cultural Center Caters to the Secular Members of the Tribe
Pilcher, Brad
Issue 116

A news article discussing controversial organizations that attempt to reach out to secular and cultural Jews.

Date: 8/1/2003


Irish Literary Figures Talk About Religion, Writing and Intermarriage
Thompson, Marlena
Issue 80

Interview with David Marcus and Ita Daly, an intermarried Irish couple, both of whom are accomplished writers.

Date: 3/1/2002


Approaching Our Twenty-Seventh Anniversary
Fischel, Janice G.
Issue 38

Personal narrative about an intermarried couple who have created and raised a culturally Jewish family.

Date: 6/1/2000


An Unorthodox View of Who's Orthodox
Suissa, David
Issue 114

An opinion/editorial article that comments on the orthodox actions of many secular Jews and promotes that all Jews benefit from sharing with and learning from one another.

Date: 7/1/2003


My Religion, My Choice
Feinstein, Tracy
Issue 122

The personal narrative of a woman who was raised secularly religious by interfaith parents and decided as a young adult to be converted to Judaism to confirm her faith, despite the fact that lineage already recognized her as a Jew.

Date: 11/1/2003


Donor Offers $10 Million to Fund, but with Secular String Attached
Berkofsky, Joe
Issue 131

Reprinted news article about the stipulation of a large-scale philanthropist that his money be used to finance only cultural Jewish education. 

Date: 4/1/2004


The Yiddishkeit of Bacon
Friedman, Dan
Issue 148

Personal narrative about an intermarried man who helped his in-laws decorate a Christmas tree, but considers it a secular celebration.

Date: 12/1/2004


Eschewing the Supernatural, Humanistic Group Offers Alternative
Tugend, Tom
Issue 142

Reprinted general information about Humanistic Judaism, including its history, theology, structure, and direction.

Date: 9/1/2004


Not Your Typical Jewish Family
Karasik, Johanna
Issue 123

Personal narrative about a daughter of divorced interfaith parents whose father decided to hold a Hanukkah/Shabbat celebration and wanted her to teach their multi-faith extended family about Jewish traditions.   

Date: 12/1/2003


Stories We Haven't Yet Heard: A Review of The Flying Camel
Fischer, Catherine
Issue 133

Review of The Flying Camel: Essays on Identity by Women of African and Middle Eastern Jewish Heritage, Edited by Loolwa Khazzoom, a collection of memoirs that explore the complexities of being a Mizrahi-Jewish woman.

Date: 5/1/2004


Is Observance Fanaticism?
Artson, Rabbi Bradley Shavit
Issue 55

A rabbi's advice to a man whose reform family rejects his "fanatic" Jewish lifestyle.

Date: 2/1/2001


Tangled Roots: A Review
Ronnie Friedland
Issue 104

Review of Tangled Roots, a documentary about a child of interfaith marriage's exploration into her Jewish and German roots.

Date: 3/1/2003


Turning Swords into Plowshares
Litman, Rabbi Jane
Issue 120

An opinion/editorial article discussing modern America's view of Judaism and how some people wrongly believe that American Jews have lost their Jewish identities.

Date: 10/1/2003


Intermarriage Has Our Blessing
Baron, Myrna
Issue 49

General information about Humanistic Judaism, its doctrine, practices, and lifecycle ceremonies

Date: 11/1/2000


Celebrating the New Year Festivals Humanistically: Bringing Intercultural Families Closer Together
Jerris, Rabbi Miriam
Issue 142

Professional view from a Humanistic Rabbi about how the Humanistic Judaism Rosh Hashanah service differs from traditional services:  Humanist services are more inclusive of interfaith families, and more focused on the values of self-reflection and forgiveness rather than God's role in determining "who will live and who will die."

Date: 9/1/2004


Will Secular Humanism Appeal to Israelis?
Sedan, Gil
Issue 132

News article on the introduction of secular humanistic Judaism to Israel.

Date: 4/1/2004


Progressive Politics and Jewish Camp, Combined
Forbath, Theo
Issue 177

A personal narrative about a politically progressive camp where interfaith kids with progressive values feel comfortable.

Date: 2/14/2006


Brother Born Again: A Review
Friedland, Ronnie
Issue 64

A review of Brother Born Again, a film that explores how a child brought up in a secular Jewish environment turns to Christianity after the traumatic death of his father.

Date: 6/1/2001


Could It Happen Here? A Review of Philip Roth's The Plot Against America
Coon, Cheryl F.
Issue 158

Review of The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth, a work of fiction about American Jews during the Holocaust era.

Date: 5/10/2005


Israeli Arab Stirs the Pot with Absurdist Film on Middle East
Tugend, Tom
Issue 108

Review of Divine Intervention, about three Israelis bound by love but separated by borders and checkpoints.

Date: 5/1/2003


A Novel about Three Secular Jewish Friends and Their Non-Jewish Wives
Miller, Susan Katz
Issue 116

A review of Club Revelation by Allan Appel, a mediocre novel about two intermarried couples who live together in an apartment building that recalls '60s-era communes.

Date: 8/1/2003


An Excellent Reference: But Not for "Dummies"
Thompson, Marlena
Issue 68

Review of Judaism for Dummies by Rabbi Ted Falcon, Ph.D. and David Blatner, a reference that can be used for Jews and non-Jews alike. 

Date: 9/1/2001


It's All About the Food
Feder, Sue
Issue 145

Personal narrative about a Jewish-Catholic interfaith couple who like different foods, but don't let it get between them.

Date: 10/1/2004


My Opinion: Ethnicity is Not Judaism
Essex, David
Issue 100

An opinion/editorial discussing how many converts to the Jewish faith feel that they are unwelcome and that they don't belong.

Date: 1/1/2003


San Francisco‘s Jewish Leftist Tradition Reemerges in Documentary
Fox, Michael
176
Review of Following Sean, a documentary about a boy who grew up with hippie parents in the sixties and compares his life to the filmmaker's life and family of Jewish leftists.

Date: 1/31/2006



Opposites Attract: A Review of The Physics of Sunset
Miller, Susan Katz
Issue 28

 

A Review of The Physics of Sunset by Jane Vandenburgh, a novel about an intermarried couple in California and the forces beyond their control.

Date: 1/1/2000


Reactions to "Jerusalem," A Play about an Intermarriage, and a Conversation with the Playwright
Friedland, Ronnie
Issue 94

Profile of Seth Greenland and review of his new play, "Jerusalem" about an intermarried couple.

Date: 10/1/2002


TV Series Looks at Family Life of Secular Jew Who Married A Jew-by-Choice: The Education of Max Bickford
Friedland, Ronnie
Issue 72

Review of The Education of Max Bickford, a TV show that starred Richard Dreyfus as a skeptical Jewish professor whose ex-wife converted to Judaism and was killed in a car crash.

Date: 11/1/2001


North America's Reform Rabbis Adopt Comprehensive New Conversion Guidelines, Welcoming Converts to Judaism with "Joy and Encouragement"
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Issue 65

A news article discussing the new guidelines for conversion passed by North America's reform rabbis.

Date: 7/1/2001


Will America's Loving Embrace Lead to the End of Judaism?
Groner, Jonathan
Issue 66

Review of Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry by Samuel G. Freedman, a recent history of the fall of the ethnic Eastern-European collective Jewish identity, and what Judaism looks like in America today.

Date: 8/1/2001


The Hour: Open a Secular Door to Judaism
Fein, Leonard
Issue 182

Forward columnist Leonard Fein raises the possibility of secular conversion.

Date: 4/25/2006


Interfaith Families and Secular Judaism
Seid, Cantor and Rabbi Judith
Issue 208

General information about how interfaith couples and ceremonies are handled by the Secular Humanistic Jewish movement.

Date: 5/8/2007


Can You Raise a Child Without God?
Burk, Ken
Issue 208

Personal narrative from a man raised in a Secular Humanist congregation attempting to raise his 2-year-old daughter in one.

Date: 5/8/2007


A Passion for Division
Weintraub, David, with Weintraub, Elizabeth
Issue 129

Review of Mel Gibson's film, Passion of the Christ, from the perspective of a Jewish man married to a non-Jewish woman.

Date: 3/1/2004


The Four Questions Meet the Four Noble Truths
Crawford, Louise
Issue 205

Review of Haggadah for Jews & Buddhists by a secular Jew who practices meditation.

Date: 3/27/2007


Candidate with a Jewish Family Reaches Out to Potential Voters, about Dean.
Berger, Matthew
Issue 108

Profile of Howard Dean, an intermarried man running for the Democratic nomination for president with special attention to his positions on Israel and Jewish relations.

Date: 5/1/2003


A Secular Welcoming
Jerris, Rabbi Miriam S.
Issue 209

General information about, and ideas for, Secular Humanistic Jewish birth ceremonies.

Date: 5/22/2007


Intermarriage and The Future Of American Jewry
Thompson, Marlena
Issue 1

Review of The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century by Alan Dershowitz and Embracing the Stranger: Intermarriage and the Future of the American Jewish Community by Ellen Jaffe McClain, both of which explore intermarriage among American Jews and what it means for the Jewish future.

Date: 11/1/1998


Slugger Set To Skip Game on Yom Kippur
Eden, Ami
Issue 144

A news article that discusses the decision of Jewish baseball player Shawn Green to skip the game on Yom Kippur and Madonna's promotion of Kabbalah.

Date: 10/1/2004


Is Wanting to Share a Jewish Partner's Religious Commitment a Sufficient Basis for Conversion? What Do YOU Think?
Moment Magazine
Issue 72

A survey addressing different opinions on conversion to Judaism in order to share a religious commitment with a romantic partner.

Date: 11/1/2001


Our Non-Religious Jewish Wedding
Rockler-Gladen, Naomi
Issue 211

Personal narrative about the wedding of a Jewish woman and her husband, who came from a devout Christian family but has since rejected organized religion.

Date: 6/19/2007


Avoiding Jewish "Nothingness"
Felsen, Michael
Issue 208

Review of Secular Jewishness for Our Time, a compilation of 20th century essays on the meaning of secular Judaism.

Date: 5/8/2007


"Mazel Tov" Instead of "Oy Vey"
Friedland, Ronnie
Issue 208

Audio interview with Humanistic Rabbi Adam Chalom about his approach to interfaith couples and families.

Date: 5/8/2007


Our Secular Humanistic Seder
Freeman, Deborah
Issue 208

Personal narrative from an intermarried woman about her secular Passover celebrations.

Date: 5/8/2007


The High Holidays Without the One on High
Felsen, Michael
Issue 216

Description of a secular Rosh Hashanah service at Boston Workmen's Circle.

Date: 8/6/2007


Is the Popularity of Jewish Culture Sustainable?
Tigay, Chanan
Issue 208

News story about the growing popularity of Jewish arts and culture like Matisyahu and Heeb.

Date: 5/8/2007


147 Ways to Be Jewish
Tisch, Jesse
Issue 213

Review of I Am Jewish, a collection of essays (mostly) by famous people on what being Jewish means, inspired by Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's famous last words.

Date: 7/31/2007


Doctor, Doctor, There's a Joke in my Judaism!: A Conversation with Adam Gopnik
Freudenheim, Susan
Issue 210

Profile of Adam Gopnik, the intermarried writer for the New Yorker.

Date: 6/5/2007


Humanistic Judaism Disciples Mourn Their Founder Killed in Car Accident
Harris, Ben
Issue 213

News story about the death of Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.

Date: 7/31/2007

In modern Jewish practice, Jewish boys come of age at 13. When a boy comes of age, he is officially a Bar Mitzvah ("son of the commandments"). The term is commonly used as a short-hand for the Bar Mitzvah\'s coming-of-age ceremony and/or celebration. The female equivalent is "Bat Mitzvah." The person who leads a Jewish congregation in chanting and singing prayer. ("Hazzan" in Hebrew.) People who attend and worship at a given synagogue. Book of prayers, stories, and songs used on Passover. Spiritual leader and teacher. Typically, but not always, leads a congregation. The Jewish New Year. The Jewish Sabbath, from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. Language once widely spoken by Jews in Eastern Europe, it\'s a hybrid of German and Hebrew. No longer commonly spoken, although many Yiddish words, such as "shtick," are part of common parlance. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd Century BCE. It is marked by the lighting of a menorah.
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