Extended Family Archives

Resources for Parents Whose Children Are in Interfaith Relationships

When some parents first find out their child is dating or marrying someone who is not Jewish, they may not...

Extended Family, Parenting Tips & Advice

Rabbi Marc’s Top 5 Tips for Engaged Interfaith Couples

I have performed over 3,000 weddings throughout my 40-year career and I am passionate about working with Jewish...

Extended Family, In-laws, Officiant, Wedding Planning, Weddings

Marrying Off a Daughter as a Values Clarification Exercise

Marrying off a daughter is a values clarification exercise. While the wedding ceremony ostensibly serves to...

Extended Family, Parenting, Relationships, Weddings

When a Major Jewish Holiday Clashes With a Major Family Wedding

My cousin is getting married on Yom Kippur. And her dress rehearsal is on Kol Nidre. Yes, you read that right....

Extended Family, High Holy Days, Wedding Planning, Weddings, Yom Kippur

Naming Our Past, Present & Future

Quinn receiving her Hebrew name Giving your child a Hebrew name is a long-standing tradition in Judaism. Sometimes...

Adoption, Babies, Baby Naming, Birth Ceremony, Extended Family, Parenting Stories, Young Kids

Family Acceptance & Testing the Breaking of the Glass

Zach works with my dad to build a stand for our photo booth Over the July 4th weekend, Zach and I spent some...

Breaking the Glass, Extended Family, Wedding Planning, Weddings

What (I Hope) My Interfaith Marriage Taught My Parents

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

To Tree or Not To Tree

The dual holiday extravaganza this season is more work than I thought it would be. But, it’s important for...

Extended Family, Hanukkah Rituals, Holiday Toolbox, Parenting Christmas, Parenting Hanukkah, Parenting Stories

Gratitude, Love and Life

Helen Rose “No Limits” Being stuck in a car for three hours with my mother, Adrian (my significant...

Extended Family, Family, Grandparents, Parenting Toolbox

The Battle of the Bar Mitzvah Guest List

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

Take the Fifth: How an Intermarried Woman Honors Parents

By Joy Fields We are commanded to honor our parents. The fifth commandment can present a few challenges, however,...

Extended Family, Family, Food, In-laws, Marriage

My Son’s Bris: Why I Was Not Prepared for This

Jack’s Bris: Sam, Anne & baby Jack Before Jack was born, I thought I prepared as much as I could for...

Baby Naming, Birth Ceremony, Birth Stories, Bris, Circumcision, Extended Family, Growing Up Interfaith, Parenting Stories

The Bar Mitzvah Brings Out the Big Questions

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

Tips from a Newlywed: Planning Your Two-Faith Wedding

Before my now-husband, Brandon, and I were engaged, I always assumed we would have a Jewish wedding. Brandon...

Extended Family, Newlywed, Officiant, Wedding Tips, Weddings

Community Comes Together for Baby’s 1st (Interfaith) Passover

A funny thing happened when I had a baby. People in my neighborhood whom I had never spoken to started speaking...

Extended Family, In-laws, Wedding Planning, Wedding Toolbox, Weddings

Grief in the Days of Awe

Two weeks ago, I wrote that I didn’t know yet what I would do for Yom Kippur. In the end, the Books of Life...

Extended Family, High Holy Days, Parenting Stories

When Cousins Think They’re Too Cool to Be Jewish

1389 May 4, 2015 This article was reprinted with permission from The Forward. The Seesaw was a popular...

Extended Family, Identity

This Mother’s Day Let’s Honor Grandmothers of Jewish Kids Who Aren’t Themselves Jewish

There are usually two types of Jewish blogs written in connection with Mother’s Day: 1. Those that focus on...

Extended Family, Family, Grandparents

Thirteen Years of Passover: An Interfaith Introduction

Setting the Passover seder table This year, I’ll be celebrating my 13th Passover with my husband. As a way of...

Extended Family, In-laws, Parenting Passover, Young Kids

Counting our Blessings at Thanksgiving

1023 Originally published November, 2007. Republished November, 2014 This is the year. For the first time...

Extended Family, Other Holidays Rituals

Simchat Torah: Celebrate the Endings and Rejoice the Beginnings

The Grooms Party We just celebrated Simchat Torah as a community. The purpose of the holiday is to celebrate...

Extended Family, Jewish Holidays, Mikveh, Simchat Torah, Wedding Stories, Weddings

Symbols and Rituals and Traditions. Oh my.

These last few months have been busy with dress fittings, selecting the menu, arranging the seating chart, creating...

Breaking the Glass, Christian Jewish Wedding, Chuppah, Co-officiation, Extended Family, In-laws, Ketubah, Religion, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Planning, Wedding Ritual, Weddings

A Keefe Easter

I think the Passover/Easter combination is more difficult than Hanukkah/Christmas. This is because Easter most...

Christian Jewish Wedding, Easter, Extended Family, In-laws, Wedding Stories, Weddings

Passover Seder with Both Families

Won’t you help to sing / These songs of freedom? We’re currently in the middle of one of the most widely-observed...

Christian Jewish Wedding, Extended Family, In-laws, Jewish Holidays, Passover, Passover Rituals, Seder, Wedding Stories, Weddings

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