- InterfaithFamily.com
InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. is a
nonprofit organization that helps and provides resources for couples with oneJewish partner and one non-Jewish partner and their families. InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. publishes a biweekly online magazine, maintains an online resource for programs and services for intermarried couples and their families and advocates for more welcoming attitudes toward interfaith families in the organized American Jewish community. InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. was founded in2001 and is based inNewton, Massachusetts .Content and Coverage
InterfaithFamily.com specifically targets couples where only one partner is Jewish. It does not address other kinds of
intermarriage , such as racial intermarriage or religious intermarriage where neither partner is Jewish.The biweekly web magazine includes a mix of personal narratives from people in interfaith relationships (as well as their families), opinion pieces from Jewish
outreach professionals who are sympathetic to InterfaithFamily.com's goals and reprinted news and features from both mainstream and Jewish publications.The website also includes resource pages that include tips and links to their archives for people interested in specific issues such as interfaith
weddings or raising Jewish children in interfaith families. In 2007, the organization created the Resource Center for Jewish Clergy, which helps interfaith couples find clergy to officiate at their weddings and resources for rabbis and cantors who officiate or are considering officiating.The Connections in Your Area system is a searchable database of programs, services and events for interfaith couples and families. It includes listings of
synagogues , independent Jewish outreach programs,Jewish community centers and other Jewish organizations or institutions.InterfaithFamily.com also oversees a loose network of Jewish outreach providers called the Professionals Advisory Circle.
Political Context
Since the 1990
National Jewish Population Survey revealed that more than 50 percent of new marriages involving a Jewish partner were intermarriages, intermarriage has been a significant and controversial issue in the American Jewish community.The various denominations of
Orthodox Judaism oppose intermarriage. None of the more liberal movements, includingConservative Judaism ,Reform Judaism andReconstructionist Judaism , encourage intermarriage, but their approach to intermarried couples and their children varies.InterfaithFamily.com specifically advocates that intermarried couples raise their children Jewish and discourages families from raising their children with two religions. Its suggested approach towards intermarriage is closest in line with the Jewish Reform and Reconstructionist movements.
InterfaithFamily.com's position on the
Who is a Jew debate is that a child with at least one Jewish parent, whether it's the mother or father, is aJew .History
Jewish Family & Life! launched the online magazine InterfaithFamily.com in November 1998. Edmund Case became the publisher of the magazine in May 1999.In 2001, InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. was incorporated and acquired the online magazine InterfaithFamily.com from Jewish Family & Life!. Since then InterfaithFamily.com expanded its offerings to include an advocacy network and a database of programs and services for intermarried couples and their families called Connections in Your Area.
Publications
Friedland, Ronnie and Case, Edmund, ed. " [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580231535 The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook] ." Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001.
See also
*
Jewish view of marriage External links
* [http://www.interfaithfamily.com InterfaithFamily.com]
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Jewish_World_Today/Overview_Continuity/IntermarriageI.htm Attitudes Toward Intermarriage] (from MyJewishLearning.com)
* [http://www.joi.org/ Jewish Outreach Institute]
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