Why We’ll Never Forget What This Irish Catholic Woman Said to Us About Being Jewish

Jennifer Weiss and Lauren Franklin for Kveller
We met 30 years ago at the University of Michigan as freshman—two young women from different parts of the country, but with similar enough families, worlds, and lifestyles that it was as if we had grown up on the same block. We had a friend in common, but soon gravitated to each other when we mutually came up with the idea of finding a Friday night service to attend.

We knew that when you come to a “foreign” place (in our case, college), it’s important to find your grounding—and a synagogue seemed to fit that bill. The fact that we knew there would be wine and cute boys only influenced our decision slightly.

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Defining the Modern Orthodox Approach to Interfaith Dialogue

Revisiting Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s seminal 1964 essay “Confrontation,” which sets out parameters for interfaith dialogue—forbidding some kinds and encouraging others—Meir Soloveichik investigates its underlying theological argument that Jews are destined to constant tension between their identity as “a people apart” and their obligation to engage with the surrounding world. He then discusses the essay’s impact and its implications in light of American notions of religious freedom. (Interview by Eric Cohen; audio, about 1 hour.)

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Being Jewish (and Buddhist and Christian and Chinese)

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily

By Amourence Lee

A good story is supposed to have a beginning, middle and end, right? Well, this story about being Jewish only has a beginning. Yep, I’m Jewish. Exactly 50% Ashkenazi according to my genome. And Jewish law says I’m 100 percent because my mother is Jewish—which also makes my kids Jewish.

I spent the first half of my life knowing this about myself, but that was literally all I knew about being Jewish. I never went to synagogue, didn’t become a bat mitzvah, we didn’t light candles or celebrate Jewish holidays or eat Jewish food. Since I don’t “look” Jewish, the only Jewish things about me are that I lived in New York and have a passion for lox and bagels.

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How Did This Nice Northern Catholic Boy Become Part of The Southern Jewish World?

By Bethany Berger for MyJewishLearning.com

My roommate Peter is neither Southern nor Jewish… and yet he somehow found himself an active part of Mississippi’s Southern and Jewish community.

Peter grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and went to college at the George Washington University in Washington DC. I went to school on the other side of DC at American University, but we did not meet until we both moved to Jackson — me, for the ISJL Education Fellowship, and Peter to work for Teach for America. Over the past two years, Peter has become one of my closest friends, and he recently told me about a professor he had in college who basically predicted our friendship. This gave me an idea for a blog… so enjoy my interview with Peter about how a Nice Northern Catholic Boy found himself in the Southern Jewish community!

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What Not to Say to an Interfaith Couple About to Get Married

Jacob Wake Up! for Jewschool

For better or for worse, we’ve become totally accustomed to it. I am Jewish, my fiancée is not, and we are getting married. People feel they have license to say some of the most chutzapahdik things to us–mostly her–both online and in real life. We’ve chosen to have a Jewish wedding, raise Jewish children, and keep a Jewish home. Not that this is a defense, it’s just some background. Our decisions are enough of a threat to people that they feel the need to say pretty aggressive things to us. We had grown used to it and it wasn’t until my fiance was having a conversation with my mother (who affectionately calls my fiancée and her family the machatunim, as she should). My mother was shocked and appalled that people would say such things to our faces. This led me to believe that maybe there were others who thought we were skating by.

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A Surprise Announcement (aka a Love Story)

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily

by Amy Beth Starr

Once upon a time, Amy, a divorced Jewish girl from Jersey, met Matt, a divorced Irish Catholic boy from Philly, in the unlikely state of Maine. They went on some dates. Amy tried to convince herself Matt was too “nice and normal” and Matt ignored her and made her dinner and bought her flowers.They both realized pretty quickly that they were living a real-life Disney movie and suddenly the two found themselves blissfully in love, minus the talking animals of course.

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Guide to Wedding Ceremonies for Interfaith Couples

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily

If you or a loved one from a Jewish background is planning a wedding, you probably have tons of questions. What are the components of a Jewish wedding? How can we create a meaningful and interfaith-friendly ceremony? The links in the outline below will lead you to information about the various ceremony components and what they mean.

If you are looking for Jewish clergy to officiate at your interfaith wedding, we can help with that too!

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