Big Tent Judaism

Hanukkah: The Gateway Holiday

My friend, Sarah, hasn’t celebrated Hanukkah in years. I met Sarah at Hebrew school, and we share fond memories of celebrating holidays together as teenagers. Yet she doesn’t celebrate Rosh Hashanah or Passover, either. Her fiancé isn’t Jewish, but her Jewish holiday observance lapsed long before they become engaged. It’s not that she celebrates Christian holidays with her fiancé. Rather, together, like so many other American Jews, Sarah and her fiancé celebrate Thanksgiving, Independence Day and other American civil holidays.

Why doesn’t Sarah celebrate the Jewish holidays that she enjoyed as a child, and why has celebrating Hanukkah become irrelevant for so many other Jewish adults like Sarah?

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Welcoming the Interfaith to Enrich Our Faith

One thing we have learned at JOI from studying and examining intermarriage over the last 20 years is that no matter how much the subject is demonized, intermarriage continues to take place. This is true no matter how “insider” the Jewish individual. In-married parents, Jewish day schools, Jewish camps, and an overall Jewish upbringing is no guarantee that a person will grow up to choose a Jewish spouse. Understanding this makes it possible for us to move forward and look at the Jewish community through a different lens, one that lets us see a community in which partners and spouses of other backgrounds are welcome to join us underneath our Jewish big tent.

Writing in the Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia’s Jewish newspaper, Gari Julius Weilbacher, managing director of InterFaithways: Interfaith Family Support Network, explains how she fits directly into the categories listed above. She was born in Israel, raised in a wholly Jewish community (her brother is a Conservative rabbi), yet she married a Catholic man who had spent his youth as an altar boy. “I am here to say that the inoculation theory against intermarriage does not always work,” she writes, going on to explain what she believes we must do to engage intermarried/interpartnered couples and encourage their increased participation in Jewish life.

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Taking JOI’s Message on the Road

Last week, JOI’s executive director Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky spoke with Jewish community leaders in New Orleans, Dallas, and Houston about becoming JOI Ambassadors, people who believe in our mission and are willing to dedicate time and leadership to advocate for our programs within his or her local community. The meetings were designed to raise awareness of the challenges we face in engaging unaffiliated Jews and to offer examples of how ambassadors can help expand JOI’s reach among populations that are underserved by the organized Jewish community, such as intermarried families, LGBT Jews, and children of intermarriage.

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A Hanukkah Service that Serves

We were excited to receive this flier about a Hanukkah service for families with special needs from Congregation Rodeph Sholom in New York City. The service, which will take place on December 4, will include prayer, song and interactive elements and be interpreted into American Sign Language.

We commend Congregation Rodeph Sholom for opening the doors of its tent to families who in the past may have felt marginalized by the Jewish community. And, we are happy to note, that there are a growing number of Jewish institutions and organizations committed to including individuals and families with special needs.

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Vowing to Be a More Inclusive Jewish Community

Every Sunday The New York Times features a couple in a short Vows video for its Weddings/Celebrations section. This week, we had the fortune of hearing the story of Dr. Hiroko Hosaka and Dr. Ryan David, a Jewish-Asian couple who met during their shifts in the pediatrics emergency room. Not only are they exceedingly sweet in their video, but they also have chosen to embrace the multiculturalism of their identities. According to the video, the couple plans to incorporate elements of both their Jewish and Japanese heritage into the wedding. Ryan explained, “We are having a Jewpanese style wedding – a cross between a Jewish traditional and Shinto – or Japanese wedding – so we will be doing a sake ceremony and following that, a breaking of the glass under the chuppah.” Their dedication to both Judaism and Japanese culture indicate the couple’s mutual respect and their desire to pass on the traditions of each other’s cultural identities. We know of many couples who maintain dual or multi-cultural homes while choosing Judaism as their household religion, and we encourage those who are still deciding to learn about the benefits of becoming a part of the Jewish community.

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We’ve Unveiled The Mothers Circle Cookbook!

Last night we hosted our annual tribute evening, in which we honored both Meryl Frank and The Mothers Circle for their empowerment of women and their work at breaking down barriers in Jewish life. As part of the tribute, JOI Executive Director Rabbi Kerry Olitzky presented Mothers Circle alumna Liddy Doyle with the first copy of The Mothers Circle Cookbook, a one-of-a-kind cookbook written by and for interfaith families. The recipes included highlight some of what these women have learned about Jewish cooking as well as the warmth and passion they have for the Jewish community.

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