Jake Boise has a Jewish father and a Presbyterian mother, but the Cheltenham
High School senior’s religious identity appears straightforward: He was raised
as a Reform Jew, attended a Jewish preschool, became a Bar Mitzvah and traveled
to Israel last year on a teen trip.
Yet as Boise’s experience suggests, the issue of faith for the children of intermarried couples is more complex than it appears.
He often thinks of himself as “mostly Jewish” or “three-fourths Jewish,” he said, speaking during a panel discussion on the experience of teens raised in interfaith households.
“I’m Jewish, but I’m interfaith. I think that is really the way I take it,” Boise said during a program that took place at his home synagogue, Congregation Kol Ami in Elkins Park.
He said he’s still curious to learn more about his mother’s religious heritage. “That’s half of me. I still want to understand what that is because it’s a part of me.”
Boise’s story raises real questions in the ongoing discourse about intermarriage in the Jewish community. Does it mean that intermarried parents can raise a proud Jew or that a child of intermarriage will never feel fully part of the tribe? Or are the two not mutually exclusive?
In a sense, those questions were, if not beside the point, then not the main focus at the Interfaith Roller Coaster, a half-day symposium at the Reform synagogue.
Often, the interfaith issue is framed from the standpoint of the organized Jewish community and the notion of what is best for Jewish continuity. But this program, organized by synagogue members, focused on the point of view of families and the issues they face.
Yet as Boise’s experience suggests, the issue of faith for the children of intermarried couples is more complex than it appears.
He often thinks of himself as “mostly Jewish” or “three-fourths Jewish,” he said, speaking during a panel discussion on the experience of teens raised in interfaith households.
“I’m Jewish, but I’m interfaith. I think that is really the way I take it,” Boise said during a program that took place at his home synagogue, Congregation Kol Ami in Elkins Park.
He said he’s still curious to learn more about his mother’s religious heritage. “That’s half of me. I still want to understand what that is because it’s a part of me.”
Boise’s story raises real questions in the ongoing discourse about intermarriage in the Jewish community. Does it mean that intermarried parents can raise a proud Jew or that a child of intermarriage will never feel fully part of the tribe? Or are the two not mutually exclusive?
In a sense, those questions were, if not beside the point, then not the main focus at the Interfaith Roller Coaster, a half-day symposium at the Reform synagogue.
Often, the interfaith issue is framed from the standpoint of the organized Jewish community and the notion of what is best for Jewish continuity. But this program, organized by synagogue members, focused on the point of view of families and the issues they face.
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