With this inaugural column we take pleasure in introducing Mr. Richard Barkauskas.

Rick is Catholic. He is the father of two grown Catholic children. He is also the father of two Jewish children, Brian and Abby, born of his second marriage. But his 'Jewish' credentials extend far beyond the obviously Jewish family. He has played one of the leading roles in building a new Conservative synagogue in Parsippany, N.J. (Congregation Adat Shalom); just as when the Hebrew school classrooms needed repainting in the old building, he was there quietly, with paint and brush in hand. From fund raising to roof and wall mending, Rick has thrown himself body and soul into the strengthening of his Jewish community in ways that would be remarkable for any one, even if he or she were the product of a traditional Jewish home, with good Hebrew school experiences. However, these acts of devotion to the Jewish community are almost incomprehensible on the part of a Catholic.

Obviously, Rick sees it differently. "With all due respect to the Jewish community," he says with an impish smile, "what's really important to me is the community I create in my home. Once I made the decision with Sharon that we would raise the children Jewish, the rest was a no-brainer. So, for me the over-riding concern was Sharon and the kids. But, when I see the way they have grown through their involvement first in Pathways (the local Jewish outreach program) and then in the synagogue, my involvement and commitment is just an affirmation of my caring for them."

Much to the frustration of his wife and children, that affirmation in the past couple of years has often taken Rick away from the family. They have learned to tolerate a Catholic father and husband who has to rush off to long evenings of synagogue board meetings (though Rick is not himself a member) to plan the synagogue's move, new building operations, equipment and furnishings, or to map out the logistics of High Holiday services.

"I must confess -- and not because I am Catholic," Rick reflects with some bemusement, "that my Jewish involvement has obviously taken me far beyond the family. My committee work and my personal relationships with the rabbi, the cantor and numerous congregants who have become close friends has deepened my intellectual and emotional engagement with the community and with Judaism in ways I could not have imagined four of five years ago. At this point there are probably several dozen friends in the 'shul' who would be happy to have me snipped and dipped so they could finally include me in the affairs of the congregation as a full-fledged Jew. My initial concerns about being alien in the life of the community or in the Judaism o Sharon and the kids has vanished.

"But," Rick continues in pensive voice--almost talking to himself, "I don't think conversion is in the cards for me. I know who I am as an adult. I cannot wipe out my Catholic upbringing or nearly forty years of Catholic life, nor can I wipe out my sense of identity with my older children and their children. I have said to the rabbi that at this point my only practical motivation for conversion would be to someday become president of the synagogue, and I know that that's not a good enough reason.

"Having visited Israel. having watched my son and daughter become Bar and Bat Mitzvah, I have learned a tremendous amount about not only the Torah, about Jewish ethics and spirituality, but also about the resiliency of the Jewish people. But, frankly I have also learned about some of the universal truths of our great religions, about common ancestry and about the integrity of difference. I have been enormously impressed by how my congregation is able to embrace me as the 'supportive other,' 'the loving other' in the Jewish lives of not only my family but increasingly of the whole congregation. That respect of our differences has only strengthened our bonds.