November 2007
Thanksgiving: The Interfaith Family's "Holiday" from Holiday Religious Issues
By Jim Keen
For an interfaith family, most major holidays, and the seasons surrounding them, bring stress over the looming religious issues involved. We are all too familiar with the Christmas/Hanukkah season.
Then, there is Thanksgiving--a secular holiday. It is the biggest holiday that our nation, as a whole, celebrates. It has been the biggest travel day of the year, followed by the biggest shopping day of the year. While these factors, alone, can cause stress, we finally get a hiatus from the religious issues and the feelings of anxiety that stem from them.
Thanksgiving is one day out of the year that we, as a family, thank God for all that he has given us. On this day we commemorate the huge feast that the Pilgrims had with their Indian friends. We might even see the hapless Detroit Lions actually win a football game. We do all of this together. It is not just "Daddy's holiday," or one that my wife and daughters have to teach me about while I'm wondering if I'm fitting in. We do not celebrate as a family of Jews and Christians. We celebrate as a family of Americans... [Continued]
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To TREE or not to TREE? What will we do for the Holidays? For interfaith families this is a question of a different sort. While a Catholic family may know that they will go to mass and a Jewish family know that they will make latkes with Aunt Sophie, an interfaith family may consider doing both, some of both, neither – or they may decide to buy tickets for Hawaii! The Christmas tree often looms large in the home décor department in December... [Continued]
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Interfaith Connection is gearing up for its Interfaith Couples’ Trip to Israel scheduled for May 22 – 31, 2008. Participants will experience the land – the spiritual center of the three Abrahamic faiths – from a truly interfaith/intercultural perspective. Among many activities, participants will spend Shabbat in Jerusalem at the remaining wall of the Second Temple, visit the Galilean hills where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, climb Masada and float on the Dead Sea... [Continued]
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San Rafael Reform Congregation Rodef Sholom has instituted a new way to celebrate Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath. By providing early services, babysitting and pre-dinner snacks, the congregation aims to make the observance accessible and easy for the community. The goal, according to the temple’s rabbis, is to make Shabbat transformational... [Continued]
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November has been nationally designated as Jewish Book Month and there will be many events around the Bay Area celebrating reading, authors and learning. On the Peninsula, the 4th Annual Celebration of Jewish Authors will take place on Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Peninsula JCC, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m... [Continued]
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