There’s a lot to report this month: promising feelings of inclusion from a new program for interfaith couples; a great discussion of what’s involved in feeling belonging; new Hebrew school research that reflects that feeling unwelcoming is an obstacle; a Conservative rabbi advocates for officiation; a patrilineal teen’s determination to be recognized; the UK progressive
A Remarkable Orthodox Rabbi’s Remarkable Essay I’m always glad to draw attention to prominent Jewish leaders when they speak positively about interfaith families. This essay, by an Orthodox rabbi, in the National Catholic Reporter of all places, is just remarkable: “I’m a rabbi raised by a Christian mother. We need religious diversity now more than
A New CEO for 18Doors! I was excited to see 18Doors’ announcement, picked up in the Atlanta Jewish Times, that Mike Wise, a very experienced Jewish professional, most recently co-founder of Honeymoon Israel, is their new CEO. I loved what Mike is quoted as saying: With more than a 75 percent interfaith marriage rate among
I was very excited when I heard about Rabbi Shai Held’s book, Judaism Is About Love. I was eager to see how the book would address love between Jews and partners from other faith backgrounds. I was disappointed to find that it doesn’t. Nevertheless, the book is – I don’t know what adjectives best describe
After all the December holiday media buzz, and with January attention focused on distressing events here and in Israel, there was little interfaith family inclusion news to report – until this week. Jewish Families Today This past Monday, eJewishPhilanthropy reported that Rosov Consulting released an important qualitative study, Jewish Families Today. The study focused on
December has always been the biggest month for interfaith families. But in the twenty-five years I’ve worked in the field, even in the couple when Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped, there’s never been as much coverage as this year – in mainstream sources like the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the
In our unsettled world, my wife and I were blessed to spend time over Thanksgiving with our wonderful family – our children and their spouses, and especially our four grandchildren, each of them a unique universe of potential, sources of calm and joy. I hope you had a good holiday. Nobody Wants This and Intermarried
Nobody Wants This The news this month was pretty much all about the Netflix hit show, Nobody Wants This, in which “hot rabbi” Noah falls for Joanne who’s not Jewish; she says she’ll convert then realizes she’s not ready; he appears to choose to stay with her which means he won’t get the promotion to
As the new year approaches, I can’t help thinking how it’s been an awful year in Israel and Gaza and now Lebanon, and scary in our domestic politics. I sympathize with all the rabbis who want to give sermons that are hopeful. I’m trying to be hopeful, and if it’s any help, the news this
Attitudes, Advocacy, and Change I had coffee this month with a very experienced foundation professional, very supportive of interfaith family engagement, who I understood to say that advocacy for inclusion was no longer necessary or important. They felt that young people are already inclusive, and they only rarely hear conversion promoted. When I founded InterfaithFamily