Dear Gefilte: I Want to Convert, but My Husband Won’t Approve

From: deargefilte@kveller.com

Dear Gefilte,

My husband was brought up basically without any religion. I grew up very Catholic. My mother-in-law converted to Judaism several years before we met. Hubby doesn’t take her conversion or any religion seriously.

Here’s the deal, I desire very much to convert to Judaism myself. I’ve finally found a religion that really speaks to me. Problem is I know my husband will not only be shocked…he won’t support me in this. What do I do? How do I approach this?

Yours truly,

Jewess-in-training
—
Dear Jewess-in-Training,

Here are a few things that often require “support”:

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Michael Douglas Credits Son and Dad at Genesis Ceremony

The Jewish Daily Forward

Actor Michael Douglas credited his son and celebrity father for helping him reconnect to Judaism as he accepted the Genesis Prize, “the Jewish Nobel,” in Jerusalem.

Douglas, an Academy Award winner, accepted the $1 million award on Thursday night for his commitment to Jewish values and the Jewish people. His wife, the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, and children, Dylan and Carys, were on hand for the ceremony.

In his address, Douglas noted his new ties to Judaism at age 70.

He said his son’s decision to have a bar mitzvah “made me think and it made me strong. And for that I will always be grateful.” His voice broke as he thanked Dylan, who had his bar mitzvah last June, and later his whole family for their support.

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Beyond the Jewfro: Rachel Dolezal story touches historic nerve for Jews

The question of ‘who is a Jew’ is a sensitive political question that combines the dual hot-button issues of race and religion.

By Allison Kaplan Sommer for Haaretz   

If we needed proof that there is no such thing as local news anymore, the case of Rachel Dolezal provided it. The story of a president of an NAACP chapter and African studies professor essentially building a career around a fabricated ethnic identity - telling the world she was of African-American heritage when she is, in fact, blonde, blue-eyed of Czech and German heritage, outed by the press and then her parents has grabbed headlines around the world.

Among Jews and Israelis, the story has sparked conversations and heated arguments across social media. It’s not surprising, especially after Nazi eugenics had such a shattering effect on their history, that Jews should be especially interested in this debate.

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South Korea and Israel

God – Our Ultimate Source of Reconciliation

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Founder and President of International Fellowship of Christains and Jews

Dear Friend of Israel,

When I started The Fellowship nearly 30 years ago, I naturally focused the organization’s bridge-building efforts on the U.S. This made sense: Besides being my home at the time, the U.S. is the country with the largest Christian population in the world, and the second-largest population of Jews. But in the intervening years, we’ve opened offices around the world – in Canada, in Australia, in Brazil, and also in South Korea, a country I was just privileged to visit for the fourth time.

During the trip I was struck again not only by the warm reception I received – from Christian leaders, churchgoers, and seminary students alike – but by how similar Korea and Israel are. South Korea is bordered by North Korea, which has a nuclear weapon and seeks to destroy them. Israel faces a similar threat – to the north we have Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the west Hamas in Gaza, on the east ISIS and other terrorist groups, and, of course, Iran, which is dedicated to Israel’s destruction and is seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Both South Korea and Israel share similar institutions: Both have representative forms of government that provide for their citizens a measure of freedom and liberty. Both value progress, embracing the development of technology and industry, and nurturing innovation. Our cultures share key similarities as well. Family is central to Korean life, and certainly is one of the cornerstones of Jewish life.

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When the Rabbi's Other Half Isn't Jewish

The Seesaw for The Jewish Daily Forward

We just moved east and are currently shopping around for synagogues. We have narrowed it down to two. We feel more at home with the congregation at one of them, and the rabbi at the other. One of the issues with the rabbi we feel less at home with is the fact that she has a non-Jewish boyfriend — something we just aren’t comfortable with. Seesaw, are we old-fashioned and intolerant? Or is this a reasonable line to draw?

Whatever You Choose, It Will Change You

Your question offers an opportunity to ponder the significance of being “at home” and comfortable in one’s chosen synagogue, and the respective roles played by rabbi and congregation in creating that experience of being at home for you. Your apparent suspicion that you may be “old fashioned” and “intolerant,” suggests that the choice you face in selecting a synagogue has opened a question you’ve not previously considered.

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Interfaith Parent, Interfaith Child: Life With Two Religions

From On Being Both

New Pew Data on Interfaith Marriage. And Coming Soon, on Interfaith Identities

For as long as I have been writing about interfaith families, for decades now, it has been hard to get good data on the overall increase in interfaith marriage in America. This week, Pew Research released the most comprehensive report on religion in America since their 2007 report. The new report, America’s Changing Religious Landscape, and much of the subsequent news reporting, focused on two angles: the rise of the “religious nones,” and the interlinking shift away from traditional forms of Christianity.

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The Interfaith Couples of 'Connected'

By Gerri Miller

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily 

Lori Levine met now-husband Jan Van Arsdale in summer 2013 on Tinder, after unsuccessfully trying other online dating services including JDate, eHarmony and Match as well as being set up on blind dates. “When I joined Tinder, it was so new that I would complain that there weren’t enough people on it. I kept seeing the same five guys!” she tells us. “That was June 2013 and by the time August rolled around there were a lot more people on it and that’s when Jan and I met.”

There are many reality series about people like Levine and Van Arsdale—hip, good-looking people and their love lives. But the new AOL original unscripted series Connected, which began streaming March 31, is a bit different. There’s no camera crew, and of the six New Yorkers who document their stories via personal camcorders, two of them, including Levine and Van Arsdale, are in interfaith relationships.

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