A Passover Challenge: Welcome the Stranger

By Jane Larkin, Special to the Jewish Journal

Passover is the story of a journey, and as the holiday approaches, I’ve been reflecting on my interfaith family’s Jewish journey. When we moved to Dallas ten years ago, shortly before Passover, we were strangers in a strange land. We were also an intermarried couple with a baby, still trying to figure out how to be a Jewish family and where we fit in the Jewish community.

The only person we knew when we arrived was my stepsister’s college roommate who graciously invited us to spend Passover with her family. We were grateful for the invitation, but a little overwhelmed by the Conservadox seder, since we were accustomed to a Reform celebration. Still we were glad to spend the holiday in the company of others and received guidance on how to connect with young family programs and the Jewish community in the city.

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Passover and Easter

Wondering whether you should go to Easter dinner at your mother-in-law's during Passover? Is it OK to eat matzah - and peeps? Learn how to solve the spring holiday dilemma with articles, resources and links from InterfaithFamily.

InterfaithFamily's website offers you everything from how to make a seder, what everything means, article on Passover and Easter, videos for adults and children, recipes, tips for engagement, and so much more.

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The Interfaith-Humanist-Vegan Passover Seder: A Mouthful in Many Ways

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily

By Jared David Berezin

When our eyes begin to burn and tear up my wife and I look at each other and laugh. That’s when we know the horseradish is ready. We also bake our own homemade matzah, and the unleavened flat bread resembles pita or injera (Ethiopian bread). Preparing Passover-friendly food from scratch and arranging the seder table is a ritual my wife and I enjoy as much as the seder itself.

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Easter vs. Passover: In Interfaith Marriages, Mom’s Faith Wins Out

By Naomi Schaefer Riley for The New York Times

I never thought of myself as part of an interfaith marriage — more of a faith/no-faith marriage. I am a Conservative Jew and my husband is a former Jehovah’s Witness, now an “aspiring atheist.” I told him on our first date that our children would be raised Jewish — indeed that they would go to Jewish day school. A little forward, perhaps, but I had friends who spent years arguing over faith until they finally decided their relationship just wasn’t going anywhere. And I had friends who wanted to expose kids to “a little bit of both” and then let them decide. Bringing up children as Unitarians or Jews for Jesus wasn’t in the cards for me.

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Purim Booklet

InterfaithFamily.com is proud to offer Purim, a booklet explaining the holiday, its customs and traditions.

Purim is one of Judaism's most playful holidays. It is a time to dress up in costumes and masks and make fun of our enemies. It is a time to eat three-cornered hamentashen cookies or ear shaped orejas de haman. It is a time to give cookies to our friends and neighbors and charity to those who are poor. For children it is time for a carnival. Who can resist this invitation to be silly? This is a great holiday to share with family and friends whether they are Jewish or not!

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Our Two Worlds Blend & Balance

This article has been reprinted with permission from InterfaithFamily 

by Hannah Dancing

My name is Hannah, and as one half of an engaged couple, I’m excited to share with you my experience planning our upcoming May wedding. I found InterfaithFamily online when I began searching for a rabbi who was willing to officiate the type of wedding ceremony my partner and I want to have: namely a non-traditional, and somewhat Jewish one!

Let me tell you a little bit about us:

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Rabbis and imams unite to help Calais refugees

From Jewish News Online

What do a former Nigerian breakdancing champion and a rabbi have in common? On the face of it, not much, until one realises that the one-time dancer is now Sheikh Mustafa Badru of the Harlesden Ummah Community Centre, and the rabbi is Rabbi David Mason of Muswell Hill United Synagogue, writes Jenni Frazer.

Both men, and four other rabbis plus a student rabbi, joined forces this week with a unique group of Orthodox rabbis and imams to visit the Calais refugee camp known as the jungle. Monday’s event marked the first time that Orthodox rabbis had addressed the Calais issue on-site.

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