One
man's trash is another man's treasure—and sometimes, one man's trash is
another man's history. In her second novel, In the Courtyard of the
Kabbalist, Ruchama King Feuerman explores the ways two men—one Jewish,
one Arab—build an unlikely friendship despite Jerusalem's cultural and
political divisions.Isaac Markowitz, a Lower East Side haberdasher who makes aliyah to realize his unfulfilled potential, finds a job as an assistant to a Jerusalem rabbi who is part Talmudist, part psychoanalyst: Jews from all walks of life gather in his courtyard to seek his guidance on everything from romance to kashrut.
When Mustafa, a custodian at the Temple Mount/Al-Haram al-Sharif with a rare medical condition, arrives at the courtyard, Isaac is surprised by the intimate—and curiously volatile—friendship that arises between them. One day, Mustafa brings Isaac an ancient stone pomegranate from the Temple Mount, leading Isaac—and the police—to discover that such artifacts are being buried, broken, and cast aside. Occasionally, the men come dangerously close to archetypes: the old-fashioned Ashkenazi, the devout Muslim. But in Feuerman's hands, they are human: conciliatory, contradictory, and hoping their lives have meaning.
- Leah Falk for Jewniverse
As
grandparents, you want and need to tell your grandchild “who we are,”
and you have a right to do so. It’s the how of doing it that’s so
important and so difficult. In the real world you must be sensitive to
the feelings of your non-Jewish son/daughter-in-law. You want, after
all, to maintain the affection of your children as well as your
grandchildren. Of course, that’s true even in a single-faith marriage.
However, in some interfaith situations, you may have a bomb with a short
fuse that can be touched off with what often seems to be no
provocation. Remember, whether or not your son- or daughter-in-law has a
justifiable reason for acting resentful, he or she does have the upper
hand and can deprive you of seeing your grandchildren.
Almost
two weeks ago, the two of us proposed that Jewish communities consider
instituting an alternative pathway to joining the Jewish People. As the
Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011 demonstrated, thousands of
Americans – many married to Jews, many with Jewish children and
grandchildren, and many with Jewish friends – have already chosen to
identify as Jews without converting. Though not raised Jewish, these
people – amounting to 5% of the adult Jewish respondents in the New York
study – affirm their sense of Jewish belonging without necessarily
taking on a Jewish religious identity. In contrast, those who have
undergone conversion constitute barely 2% of the respondents in the
study.
For
example, the survey shows that the offspring of intermarriages – Jewish
adults who have only one Jewish parent – are much more likely than the
offspring of two Jewish parents to describe themselves, religiously, as
atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular. In that sense, intermarriage
may be seen as weakening the religious identity of Jews in America.
My
husband comes from a Christian family and we have always gone to his
parents house for Christmas celebrations. I come from a Jewish family so
we have always celebrated Hanukkah at home. In the past it did not
bother me that the kids were being exposed to Christmas because they
were too little to understand the larger picture - it was mainly about
seeing family and celebrating another holiday. Now my oldest is 5 and is
beginning to ask about Santa (Does Santa bring the Hanukkah presents
too? Who is Jesus?). Our youngest is 3 and isn't quite there yet, but we
are wondering if it would be wise to continue celebrating Christmas.
My
family has always had a Thanksgivukkah tradition. Our local Whole Foods
usually makes a special purchase of vegan, kosher marshmallows to top
Thanksgiving sweet-potato casseroles. We always buy several bags—along
with fair-trade chocolate coins in bulk—to also make s’mores for
Hanukkah in our toaster oven. This year, as we celebrate both holidays
on the same day, we look forward to our holiday s’mores, as well as
preparing to make our usual Thanksgiving guests comfortable with
celebrating our Jewish holiday alongside us.
When
I search the internet for mentions of “interfaith,” I get news from two
separate worlds. One is the world of interfaith “dialogue” and
activism, in which people from different religions (or no religion) meet
to share their stories, or engage in community service together. This
movement has flourished since 9/11, through the important work of groups
such as the