The Jewish Week features a piece today on the latest “how to” book, “Boy Vey! The Shiksa’s Guide to Dating Jewish Men.” The title is fairly self-explanatory and the author, Kristina Grish, explains the allure as such:

…they’re the ultimate caretakers without a hint of machismo. They’re also generous and thoughtful thanks to a matriarchal culture that’s taught them to appreciate women’s strength, candor, humor and intelligence. And because Jewish men value professional drive, your mom can finally tell neighbors that you’re dating a doctor, lawyer or entrepreneur. And she’ll mean it this time.

As flattering as her depictions of Jewish men may be, we wonder how Grish’s depictions of interfaith relationships read to those who are actually in them. How does this article strike readers who have moved beyond the stereotypes and are in true-life committed interfaith relationships? We welcome comments from those of you who can speak from your own experiences.

In the last decade there has been no lack of Jewish characters on television. Representations of Jewish practice, on the other hand, have been few and far between. A recent exception to this rule was seen on the popular Fox show “The O.C.”, a program that features an intermarried family that practices Judaism, in this case a Passover Seder. An excellent article in the Chicago Tribune — Finally, TV Jews who act Jewish — points out, “by embracing an intermarried couple, [series creator Josh] Schwartz is broadcasting what is a fact of life in the Jewish community…” and that the marriage on the show is “…very realistic: According to the latest National Jewish Population Survey, 47 percent of Jews who married between 1996 and 2001 married a non-Jewish partner.” Now that TV has embraced an intermarried couple who is Jewishly engaged we can only hope that the mainstream Jewish community will do the same.

At JOI we always like to point out that there are as many pathways into Jewish life as there are people to walk those paths. A recent New York Times article tells of Max Miller, an artist mourning the loss of his father by reciting the prayer for mourning — the Kaddish — at synagogues all over the country. Painting each synagogue he visits, as a symbol of his grief, he gradually reconnects with his Jewish roots. The story is instructive in terms of the community’s approach to welcoming strangers: “…in some places, he has felt distinctly unwelcome. An Orthodox rabbi in a Midtown synagogue was afraid that Mr. Miller was a terrorist… Mr. Miller was too stung to paint the shul.” Most of his other experiences proved to be far more positive. Unfortunately, it only takes one such negative reaction to turn away an unaffiliated person just as he or she trying to establish a connection to the community. It’s something we must always keep in mind.

Everything old is new again! JOI is always interested in new and innovative expressions of Judaism, and Canadian musician Josh Dolgin, aka “DJ So Called,” has found his own unique path to connect to his Jewish heritage. He’s created a radical new genre of music — Yiddish Hip-Hop Klezmer — and just released a cd of reimagined Passover songs using this unique style. You can hear samples here.

What’s so creative about So Called’s style is that it is true to the roots of both parts of this musical equation. Hip-hop is about reappropriating “classic” funk and soul vocals, rhythms, and riffs, bringing them up to date with a modern feel. The modern Klezmer and Yiddish revivals do exactly the same thing with traditional Jewish culture. They find ways to make the “old” styles speak to modern Jews. The effect of both these “movements” in African-American and Jewish culture is best captured in Dolgin’s own words: “It’s not a revival anymore - because it’s alive.” In this article from the Forward, “Dolgin noted that historically, Yiddish was often used to create offbeat art: ‘When Jews came to America, their language was Yiddish. And it was the Yiddish folk language of these people, who were funky people. We were musicians, actors, jesters and writers!’”

A fascinating article in yesterday’s New York Times illustrates yet another example of how intermarried families are capable of raising strongly identifying Jews. In this case, the family in question is among the descendents of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the strong Jewish identification has led a great-grandson, Joshua Boettinger, to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Pennsylvania.

In discussing the divergent paths of FDR’s descendents, the article notes: “These life stories tell volumes about the flexibility of social class and ethnicity in the United States where even a Roosevelt can become a rabbi…” We think it also tells volumes about the Jewish potential inherent in intermarried households.

There was a much more in-depth article about Joshua Boettinger in the New York Jewish Week last month, which you can read here.