Finding Shabbat When It Feels Like Shabbat is Nowhere to be Found By Jane Larkin In a class I teach to engaged and recently married young couples, I talk about the importance of finding time... Blessings, Religion, Religious Life, Synagogue
The Religious Identity of an Interfaith Home is a Journey, Not a Destination By Jane Larkin Up until recently, I thought the hardest part of navigating life as an interfaith family was determining the... Identity, Parenting, Parenting Stories
What (I Hope) My Interfaith Marriage Taught My Parents By Jane Larkin I’ve been married for 14 years and with my husband who is not Jewish for 16. I’ve always wanted to believe... Extended Family, Grandparents, Parenting Stories
Should We Pray for Bad People? By Jane Larkin Shortly before the inauguration in mid-January, I was contacted by a Chicago Tribune reporter about a story... Spirituality
When Will Those Who Love Speak Louder Than Those Who Hate? By Jane Larkin This morning, the meeting I was in at the synagogue I work at in Dallas was interrupted by one of the rabbis... Anti Semitism
A Thank-You Note to My Mother-In-Law By Jane Larkin My mother-in-law’s email about Christmas gifts for her was simple: “Have composed an extensive ‘Wish... Grandparents, In-laws, Motherhood, Parenting Christmas
Everywhere You Go There’s Always Someone or Something Jewish By Jane Larkin Digging into some fish and chips, a meal with Jewish roots. A week before Thanksgiving, I stood in the doorway... Clergy
The Gift Of An Inclusive and Welcoming Community By Jane Larkin I met my friend Tracie at an interfaith moms event at my synagogue. She was friendly, and we bonded over her... Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Parenting Stories
My Husband: The Jewish Parent (Who Isn’t Jewish) By Jane Larkin The email had arrived a week before I was to travel to Houston to speak to a congregation about interfaith marriage... Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Parenting Stories, Religious Education
Why Send Your Kid To Jewish Summer Camp? Because It Gets Him To Hebrew School By Jane Larkin My son (right) with his best camp friend in the dining hall this summer at URJ Greene Family Camp. I recently... Camp, Parenting Stories, Young Kids
The Battle of the Bar Mitzvah Guest List By Jane Larkin Before I signed the contract for the place where we would have our son’s bar mitzvah, I needed a rough... Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Camp, Extended Family, Parenting Stories, Teenagers
The Bar Mitzvah Brings Out the Big Questions By Jane Larkin Our son will become a bar mitzvah in about a year, and I imagine that this will be the first in a series of... Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Extended Family, Parenting Stories, Teenagers
Camp: the Shabbat of the Year By Jane Larkin Last Friday morning I took my cup of coffee and my smoothie outside to my patio. I sunk into an Adirondack... Parenting, Parenting Stories, Shabbat
Ugandans Nurture Jewish Identity at my Son’s Camp By Jane Larkin Sammy with his Jewish camp counselors from Uganda Last week my family hosted some of the international staff... Camp, Parenting, Parenting Stories
I Never Thought I’d Be That Kind of Parent By Jane Larkin As I gazed out the airplane window on our flight between Dallas and Houston, I thought about my parenting choices.... Parenting, Parenting Stories
Bernie Sanders: American Jew, Not the Other Way Around By Jane Larkin As my son and I watched coverage of Super Tuesday, I mentioned that regardless of whether or not Bernie Sanders... Identity, Spirituality
Charity Begins At Home, Part 2 By Jane Larkin My son helping to pack snack boxes at the North Texas Food Bank in January. Last night, my family watched NFL... Parenting, Parenting Hanukkah, Parenting Stories
Charity Begins at Home By Jane Larkin Artotem-www.flickr.com-Flickr Photo Sharing Every day, I open the newspaper or listen to the news, and I am... Denominations, Religion
Birthdays, Hanukkah and Learning to Let Go By Jane Larkin I was supposed to celebrate my birthday, which fell on the seventh night of Hanukkah with my husband Cameron... Marriage, Shabbat, Shabbat Food, Shabbat Rituals
Boldly Share the Light of Hanukkah this Holiday Season By Jane Larkin Over the years, Hanukkah, a minor celebration that isn’t even in the Torah, has become the unofficial... Hanukkah
Give Your Kids Something Jewish to Scream About This Halloween By Jane Larkin The Witch of Endor What do a disappearing groom, a witch in a milk bottle, a demon that writes Mezzuzot, and... Parenting
Parents of Interfaith Couples: Your Actions Are Disingenuous By Jane Larkin In this space, we typically address parents who are part of an interfaith couple creating a Jewish home. But... Advocacy
Can Sports Unite the Jewish People? By Jane Larkin This past week, the JCC Maccabi Games were played in my city, Dallas. Dallas was one of three cities hosting... Parenting, Religion
An Interfaith Mom’s Bookshelf By Jane Larkin If there is one thing I’m passionate about, it’s expanding Judaism’s tent. After years of living as a Jewishly... Bar/Bat Mitzvah