RJ Blog

by Marjorie Freeman My husband attended a Southern Baptist Church with his grandmother as a small child, and then a Methodist Church with his parents and with his first wife. We married, and the wise Reform rabbi who married us, Rabbi Robert Rothman of the Community Synagogue in Rye, NY, suggested that my new husband bring a brown-bag lunch and join him once a week to learn about my Jewish background so he would be able to understand me better. After a year or more, my husband felt that Judaism made more sense than the Christianity he grew up with, and converted. But [...]

Why do we celebrate this — or that? Do we combine holidays? How are the holidays different? How do *I* feel about being a Jew during this time of year? Why can’t I have a tree? What does going to church with your family mean to you?

by Julie Unger December is a tricky month for many interfaith couples and their families. It evokes nostalgic childhood memories and family traditions that are deeply rooted; so you’re bound to have a little conflict. To respect both sides and to minimize conflict, it’s important to discuss the December holiday plans and practices early on in your relationship. After about a year of dating, Matt and I decided that Thanksgiving would be spent with Matt’s family in Seattle, Washington, and Hanukkah/winter break would be spent with my folks in Safety Harbor, Florida. We seriously discussed this setup while we were [...]

by Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, PhD Two significant historical events facilitated the growing awareness for Americans that Hanukkah was a major holiday for Jewish people and that it was fast becoming attendant to Christmas festivities. The first was the formal recognition of Hanukkah by the White House that was accompanied by a menorah lighting ceremony. On December 17, 1979, President Jimmy Carter became the first sitting American president to participate in the lighting of a public menorah, located across the street from the White House in Lafayette Park. Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Abraham Shemtov attended the presidential lighting ceremony and presented President Carter [...]

by Jordan Peck Make sure you are helping your partner get what they need. This was a simple yet powerful concept my fiancée and I learned while participating in the free ‘Inside interfaith Relationships’ workshop through Reform Jewish Outreach Boston. Emily is a self-described “C and E” (Christmas and Easter) Congregationalist Protestant, I grew up Conservative Jewish but starting in college I became a “Y, C, and P” Jew (Yom Kippur, Chanukah, Passover). Despite our different religious upbringings we fell in love and became inseparable quickly and only small things reminded us of our different upbringings. During the first three [...]

by Annette Powers It was over brunch on our fourth date when I told him, “This can’t go anywhere…I’m Jewish and you’re not.” After years of Jewish camp, Hebrew school and lectures from my parents, I was fairly certain that the eleventh commandment was “Thou shalt meet a nice Jewish boy, get married and have beautiful Jewish babies.” With an ancestral chain of more than 2,000 years I couldn’t bear the guilt of deviating from the plan. After all, my people had been fighting for survival for lo these many centuries. Who was I to go and ruin it all [...]

by Marc Rosenstein(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Galilee Diary) Now available from URJ Books & MusicOrder Now! You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me; for you will serve their gods – and it will prove a snare to you.        -Exodus 23:32-33 For years, the mixed neighborhood of Wadi Nisnas in Haifa has held a popular and colorful street festival with art exhibits, tours and cultural events during December, a “festival of festivals” celebrating Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holidays; recently, [...]

by Rabbi Eric YoffieOriginally posted on The Huffington Post I love the Christmas season. Part of the reason for me, of course, is that it follows the eight-day celebration of Chanukah — the joyous, low-key, family oriented holiday that has inflated importance because of its proximity to Christmas but which, nonetheless, is embraced with delight by Jews of all religious orientations. But that is not the only reason. Most Americans act differently as Christmas approaches. As a boy growing up in Worcester, Mass., I remember being aware from a very young age that my neighbors, students in my school and [...]