Couples in Jewish-Christian marriages describe their experiences and reveal intimate details of their lives as members of these unique families.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Choosing a Jewish Family Life
Choosing a Christian Family Life
Finding a Way to Have Both
Looking for Alternatives
Deciding to Convert
JANE KAPLAN has produced a number of programs for public television and has independently created various films and videos. Her programs have concentrated on topics such as sexual harassment, parenting, the Holocaust, and mental health.
.,."I have used Jane Kaplan's book to bring real people's stories
into the room while helping couples and families in the process of
understanding and making interfaith decisions. The book helps folks
hear struggles, thoughts, feelings, conflicts, and joys of others
in similar positions. Hearing these stories creates a support group
for each and every person. In the book, there is always someone in
which to identify. There is always some alternative that is new and
creative. There is always one story to help soothe a
struggle...."-Mary Jo Barrett, Director of Training Center for
Contextual Change University of Chicago
"Puts flesh on the bare bones of the statistics about
Jewish/Christian intermarriage. Jane Kaplan has chosen people with
a variety of approaches to the subject, and shaped their narratives
deftly and unobtrusively into an engrossing and useful book."-Mary
Helene Rosenbaum Director, Dovetail Institute for Interfaith Family
Resources
"This book puts a human face on the challenges of being a
dual-faith family. Reading it, couples will gain insight and
comfort, and clergy will learn of their pain and conflicts. Its
sensitive portrayals of couples--often isolated and struggling on
their own--suggests the need for new institutions to support these
uncharted journeys."-Sheila C. Gordon, Ph.D. President, Interfaith
Community Inc.
"Jane Kaplan's nuanced interviews suggest that interfaith
relationships can be tricky terrain for couples, whether both
partners are religiously observant or secular in
orientation....[t]his is an interesting and useful book, although
not a "book" in the traditional sense. Certainly couples concerned
with Jewish-Christian interfaith relationships will find this
volume valuable. The interviews offer some good starting points for
discussion among a broader audience or students of Sociology of
Religion. Interfaith relationships can work, but couples have to
have clear (and honest) communication about their religious beliefs
and feelings. Nor should they expect a resolution that looks like
their neighbour's. The interpretation of religious practice and
belief are unique to the couples who struggle with achieving a
satisfactory solution to the issues of faith and practice."-Journal
of Comparative Family Studies
?[B]rings to life the subtleties and the process of ongoing
familial negotiations behind dry intermarriage statistics....puts
to rest the notion that intermarriage means the doubling of the
Jewish community, rather than its destruction.?-Jerusalem Post
?[I]nterfaith Families is a readable and useful reference tool for
couples, their families and congregational support groups....[t]his
is a worthwhile addition to any congregational library.?-Church and
Synagogue Library Association
?[I]t is the candor of the stories that makes this an important
resource for discussing intermarriage and conversion issues. This
is not a book put together to show us how well things worked out
once a decision was made to convert to Judaism or to create a
Jewish household. It is obvious that conflicts often arise in
interfaith marriages, even when one or both partners define
themselves as "non-religious." It is also obvious that the pressure
put on couples in these situations by their own families and clergy
can be hurtful. Though in most cases the extended families came to
accept the choices made by the couples involved, harm was done.
This book makes us consider exactly what it is we mean when we talk
about creating welcoming communities for interfaith
families....Kaplan has helped us to see alternative, and, it is
hoped more effective and more welcoming ways of responding to the
challenges of intermarriage.?-The Reconstructionist
?[T]his book works like a support group, The reader doesn't get
answers, but discovers many possibilities.?-The Dallas Morning
News/Connecticut Post/DallasNews.com
?[U]seful for intermarried couple and their parents is Kaplan's
Interfaith Families; the author delivers more than 50 portraits of
individuals and couples touched by intermarriage, and then steps
out of the picture. "There were no experts who stepped in to
comment on the material or to offer their interpretations," she
writes....Kaplan's work provides a welcome opportunity to learn
"the kinds of details only someone experiencing a situation
firsthand could know.?-Lilith
?Couples in Jewish-Christian marriages describe their experiences.
The book offers examples of the successes and failures, struggles
and triumphs of such religiously mixed families.?-Shofar
?Interfaith Families: Personal Stories of Jewish-Christian
Intermarriage is not a guide. Indeed, Kaplan specifically avoids
offering any advice. Rather, she presents the interviews in a
readable way, and makes initial observations only in her
Introduction....Her observations are
fascinating.?-interfaithfamily.com
?Jane Kaplan's nuanced interviews suggest that interfaith
relationships can be tricky terrain for couples, whether both
partners are religiously observant or secular in
orientation....[t]his is an interesting and useful book, although
not a "book" in the traditional sense. Certainly couples concerned
with Jewish-Christian interfaith relationships will find this
volume valuable. The interviews offer some good starting points for
discussion among a broader audience or students of Sociology of
Religion. Interfaith relationships can work, but couples have to
have clear (and honest) communication about their religious beliefs
and feelings. Nor should they expect a resolution that looks like
their neighbour's. The interpretation of religious practice and
belief are unique to the couples who struggle with achieving a
satisfactory solution to the issues of faith and practice.?-Journal
of Comparative Family Studies
?She goes beyond the statistics to provide a picture of how their
religious identity evolved over the course of marrige.In the
process, she ends up describing an enormous hybrid sub-culture of
North American Judeo-Christian families, that differs "strickingly"
from all other American Jews.?-JPOST.COM
?These stories make clear that there are numerous challenges to
maintaining a two-faith family.?-Chicago Tribune
?What this book illustrates is that there are indeed problems in
intermarriage, but that most couples come to an accomodation that
satisfies both parties, and that Jews are not going to disappear
from American life very soon.?-Multicultural Review
"ÝB¨rings to life the subtleties and the process of ongoing
familial negotiations behind dry intermarriage statistics....puts
to rest the notion that intermarriage means the doubling of the
Jewish community, rather than its destruction."-Jerusalem Post
"ÝI¨nterfaith Families is a readable and useful reference tool for
couples, their families and congregational support groups....Ýt¨his
is a worthwhile addition to any congregational library."-Church and
Synagogue Library Association
"ÝI¨t is the candor of the stories that makes this an important
resource for discussing intermarriage and conversion issues. This
is not a book put together to show us how well things worked out
once a decision was made to convert to Judaism or to create a
Jewish household. It is obvious that conflicts often arise in
interfaith marriages, even when one or both partners define
themselves as "non-religious." It is also obvious that the pressure
put on couples in these situations by their own families and clergy
can be hurtful. Though in most cases the extended families came to
accept the choices made by the couples involved, harm was done.
This book makes us consider exactly what it is we mean when we talk
about creating welcoming communities for interfaith
families....Kaplan has helped us to see alternative, and, it is
hoped more effective and more welcoming ways of responding to the
challenges of intermarriage."-The Reconstructionist
"ÝT¨his book works like a support group, The reader doesn't get
answers, but discovers many possibilities."-The Dallas Morning
News/Connecticut Post/DallasNews.com
"ÝU¨seful for intermarried couple and their parents is Kaplan's
Interfaith Families; the author delivers more than 50 portraits of
individuals and couples touched by intermarriage, and then steps
out of the picture. "There were no experts who stepped in to
comment on the material or to offer their interpretations," she
writes....Kaplan's work provides a welcome opportunity to learn
"the kinds of details only someone experiencing a situation
firsthand could know."-Lilith
"[B]rings to life the subtleties and the process of ongoing
familial negotiations behind dry intermarriage statistics....puts
to rest the notion that intermarriage means the doubling of the
Jewish community, rather than its destruction."-Jerusalem Post
"[I]nterfaith Families is a readable and useful reference tool for
couples, their families and congregational support groups....[t]his
is a worthwhile addition to any congregational library."-Church and
Synagogue Library Association
"[T]his book works like a support group, The reader doesn't get
answers, but discovers many possibilities."-The Dallas Morning
News/Connecticut Post/DallasNews.com
"[U]seful for intermarried couple and their parents is Kaplan's
Interfaith Families; the author delivers more than 50 portraits of
individuals and couples touched by intermarriage, and then steps
out of the picture. "There were no experts who stepped in to
comment on the material or to offer their interpretations," she
writes....Kaplan's work provides a welcome opportunity to learn
"the kinds of details only someone experiencing a situation
firsthand could know."-Lilith
"Couples in Jewish-Christian marriages describe their experiences.
The book offers examples of the successes and failures, struggles
and triumphs of such religiously mixed families."-Shofar
"Interfaith Families: Personal Stories of Jewish-Christian
Intermarriage is not a guide. Indeed, Kaplan specifically avoids
offering any advice. Rather, she presents the interviews in a
readable way, and makes initial observations only in her
Introduction....Her observations are
fascinating."-interfaithfamily.com
"She goes beyond the statistics to provide a picture of how their
religious identity evolved over the course of marrige.In the
process, she ends up describing an enormous hybrid sub-culture of
North American Judeo-Christian families, that differs "strickingly"
from all other American Jews."-JPOST.COM
"These stories make clear that there are numerous challenges to
maintaining a two-faith family."-Chicago Tribune
"What this book illustrates is that there are indeed problems in
intermarriage, but that most couples come to an accomodation that
satisfies both parties, and that Jews are not going to disappear
from American life very soon."-Multicultural Review
"[I]t is the candor of the stories that makes this an important
resource for discussing intermarriage and conversion issues. This
is not a book put together to show us how well things worked out
once a decision was made to convert to Judaism or to create a
Jewish household. It is obvious that conflicts often arise in
interfaith marriages, even when one or both partners define
themselves as "non-religious." It is also obvious that the pressure
put on couples in these situations by their own families and clergy
can be hurtful. Though in most cases the extended families came to
accept the choices made by the couples involved, harm was done.
This book makes us consider exactly what it is we mean when we talk
about creating welcoming communities for interfaith
families....Kaplan has helped us to see alternative, and, it is
hoped more effective and more welcoming ways of responding to the
challenges of intermarriage."-The Reconstructionist
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
