Raising Your Jewish-Christian Child: How Interfaith Parents Can Give Children the Best of Both Their Heritages » (2ND)

A new, updated edition of the "thoughtful and pioneering guide" (Library Journal) to the problems of blending both Jewish and Christian faiths into the lives of children of interfaith marriages. Based on hundreds of interviews, as well as the author's extensive research and personal experience, this highly praised book covers talking with children about God, planning ceremonies, celebrating holidays, relationships with grandparents, and developing a sense of self and belonging. Written with compassion and warmth, it offers a wealth of insight into the complicated feelings and loyalties that parents, children, grandparents, and clergy bring to the subject, and presents positively the options available to interfaith parents concerning religious training and rites of passage, drawing strengths from the two backgrounds. New to this edition are an updated resource section, featuring new online resources, updated statistics, a section on college students of interfaith marriages, the surge in creative new life-cycle ceremonies, and the growth of independent grassroots groups around the country. Multi-faith Forewords are by: Rabbi Lavey Derby, the former director of Jewish education at the 92nd Street YM-YWHA; the Reverend Canon Joel A. Gibson, of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine; and Sheila Gordon, cofounder and director of the Trinity Interfaith Community Program.

Children's Literature

The tricky problem of how to raise children in an interfaith marriage--defined here as one in which parents are of different religions as well as one where both now have the same religion due to a conversion--is often the most heated question such families encounter. The author unequivocally weighs in as a promoter of observing as much as possible from both families' traditions, including close relationships with both sets of extended family. She feels that choosing one faith or the other eventually backfires against both parents and children; that choosing no religion leaves a serious void; that picking and choosing from both creates no respect for either. Gruzen gives numerous examples from her own experience as a Christian married to a Jew and raising a boy and girl as "both" and has done considerable research to buttress her viewpoint. However, bear in mind that she is a majority-culture woman and her support comes from the more liberal sectors of Judaism. She never quotes Orthodox or "traditional" sources, who would surely not agree with her, persuasive as she is. With that caveat, read the book if you're faced with such decisions, and also consult others that offer different opinion. 2001 (orig. 1987), Newmarket, $16.95. Ages Adult. Reviewer: Judy Chernak