© 2005 Jonathan Levine/UJC

Before marrying, Jeff Zlot, who is Jewish, and his wife-to-be Connie, who is not, participated in a unique program which, he says, got the couple “involved in thinking about the issue of interfaith relationships and potential challenges when raising a family.”

Today, with two sons and another child on the way, Zlot is so sold on the importance of the process that he headed a committee to raise $250,000 to provide programs for interfaith families, successfully matching a challenge grant from the Royce Philanthropic Fund to the Jewish Community Endowment Fund’s Interfaith Outreach Endowment Fund (IOEF).

The Zlots were a part of a workshop sponsored by Interfaith Connection, a San Francisco-based program that provides a range of seminars for interfaith couples about issues faced by intermarried couples.  It was founded in the mid-1980s by Rosanne Levitt, who today heads the committee that will determine how the funds raised will be allocated...  [Continued]

At a recent community interfaith workshop for family members, I listened to a woman ask in a very open, heartfelt manner for advice about her relationship with her youngest daughter, married to a non-Jewish man, who had recently given birth to her first child. Her daughter was not planning to raise her son with any Jewish traditions or practices—a source of tremendous sadness and grief for this participant. She felt unsure how to be her Jewish self with her new grandchild, and had come to the workshop seeking support and guidance... [Continued]

This is the year 5767 by the Jewish calendar.  That means counting the years started a long time ago.  All those events that created holidays happened long ago too – back when everyone spent the summer in the fields, gardening.  So it isn’t surprising that summer finds the Jewish calendar short on holidays.  We’re all supposed to be tending our crops.  And in fact, that’s not a bad thing to do in the summer... [Continued]		San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav has received a grant from the Jewish Community Endowment Fund for its Queer Interfaith Project, an initiative to promote access and connection to Jewish community activities for LGBT interfaith families. The Reform congregation, which was established in 1977, serves an inclusive community with a focus on meeting the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews... [Continued]
The welcome mat is out to interfaith families at Congregation Beth Ami, a Conservative congregation in Santa Rosa. “While we don’t as yet have an official outreach program, in the last several years our rabbi (Rabbi George Schlesinger) was involved in a task force with other Conservative rabbis from the Bay Area to welcome interfaith families,” says Juli Scherer, executive director... [Continued]		The Palo Alto School for Jewish Education is described on its website as a “distinctive Sunday School.”  In fact, it is more than that.  It’s one of few Jewish religious schools that is neither a day school nor affiliated with a congregation. “We approach religious school from an historical and cultural perspective, rather than religious,” explains Cathy Taylor, director of education... [Continued]

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