Center for Radically Inclusive Judaism

05/31/2026

Watch a CASJE/eJP panel discussion on interfaith families on June 11.

Re-CHARGING Reform conference again doesn’t discuss engaging interfaith families; interesting related discussion about particularism and universalism.

Important white paper from the Shalom Hartman Institute on Building Communities of Belonging.

News from Israel and Canada, and more.

05/24/2026

June 11, 12 to 1:30 pm ET, CASJE and eJP are hosting a panel discussion on “Jewish–Interfaith Families and the Future of Jewish Life in the United States." The panel follows publication of CASJE’s research digest on children of intermarriage (link in comments).

I’m pleased to be speaking along with Keren R. McGinity, Ted Sasson, Bruce Phillips, Avi Rubel and Sophie Mortman. Register at the link below.

This panel will explore current trends and strategies for engaging Jewish–interfaith families.

05/04/2026

So dislike microaggressions like this -- the Jewish People Policy Institute says its polls "reflect the sentiments of 'connected' Jews because [among other reasons] its panel includes fewer intermarried Jews." Assumption: intermarried ≠ connected.

The poll comes weeks into a ceasefire that President Donald Trump has extended despite not achieving the concessions he has called for.

04/29/2026

I’m still glowing from my granddaughter’s BMitzvah at Mishkan Chicago – a model of interfaith family inclusion.

But I’m devastated by 18Doors’ funding crisis and staff cuts. Will the funding community finally seize the opportunity to adequately fund interfaith family inclusion efforts?

In otherwise fine statements, Reform movement and PJ Library leaders miss the opportunity to explicitly elevate the importance of interfaith family inclusion. So does the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, a top journalist on Jewish Disapora affairs.

A minister writing for Clal explains that inclusion means being received for who you are, not who someone wants you to become.

A Conservative rabbi supports his synagogue’s 75% vote in favor of changing by-laws to allow partners from different faith backgrounds to be members. That’s progress – but the 25% opposed likely share traditional attitudes, highlighted in new research from Canada, that interfaith marriage is undesirable, something to be discouraged if not prevented.

This and more in the April 2026 News from the Center.

04/26/2026

This essay by Reverend Jill Harman explains why helping people feel belonging is hard:

"There are spaces that open their doors and make me feel received, and then there are spaces that open their doors but already have a shape in mind for who I should become once I step inside. That difference isn’t always obvious at first. Sometimes a place feels warm and generous and full of good people, and sometimes it really is all of those things. And still, over time, something in me begins to notice that the welcome is leaning somewhere. It has a direction to it, a quiet belief that closeness will eventually soften you into someone easier to claim.

That’s where the ache begins: Even when that pressure is gentle, it changes the feeling of the room. Something in me stops being able to rest, because I’m no longer sure whether the kindness is meant for who I am or for who someone hopes I’ll become. That makes it very hard to stay."

There are spaces that open their doors and make me feel received, and then there are spaces that open their doors but already have a shape in mind for who I should become once I step inside.

04/26/2026

The editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, Zvika Klein, writes that Israel “needs future citizens, loyal friends, serious allies, informed advocates, students, and fellow travelers” and should “open the door wider” to those with one Jewish grandparent or who seek connection. But nowhere does he mention partners from different faith backgrounds married to Jews.

Is it unreasonable to expect “one of the world's top journalists specializing in Jewish Diaspora affairs,” as the Post describes Klein, to say something explicit about that very large group?

A country that was built to gather exiles should be better at recognizing the people standing near the edge of the camp, waiting to see whether anyone inside is ready to speak to them.

04/26/2026

This is a nice essay which talks about a recent PJ Library event where “children could choose books with characters who reflected a full range of Jewish identities and histories” including books in or including Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino, and showing Shabbat celebrated in different ways. But there is no mention of children in interfaith families.

The author, from PJ Library, says, "[T]he stories we tell shape how our children see themselves, who they become, and how they engage with the world. The stories we elevate signal who belongs, whose voices matter, and how children come to understand both their own identities and those of others...."

This essay was a missed opportunity to explicitly declare that PJ Library wants to support the stories of children in interfaith families. PJ Library is a great organization and has made efforts to offer books highlighting interfaith families. But my recent review of local Jewish community studies showed that only 28% of eligible interfaith families received PJ Library books compared to 50% of inmarried families. To change that, they need to talk about and market to interfaith families explicitly, like they have for ethnic and gender diversities.

On a chilly day in January, PJ Library in New York held its first Jewish Children’s Book Festival in the Upper East Side with support from UJA-Federation of New York and 92NY. More than 2,000 families attended the event, which was set up as a marketplace with free books for children to br...

04/25/2026

This is a nice essay by Rabbi Esther Lederman, but a missed opportunity; it says "The multiplicity of diverse Jewish identities, from racial and ethnic backgrounds to sexual orientation, gender identities, economic backgrounds and neurodiversity, is astounding and beautiful" but doesn't include faith backgrounds, by far the largest diversity in the American Jewish community.

The leaders of the Reform movement seem to think that interfaith family inclusion is at the center of its work because it was pioneered by the movement, and that they have been successful at it, so they don’t need to talk about or prioritize doing anything about it. But only 13% of interfaith families belong to synagogues. I wouldn’t be satisfied with that level of success.

When God approaches Moses at the burning bush, asking him to go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites, Moses rightfully asks, “Who shall I say is sending me? What name should I use?”  For the first and only time, God says, “Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh, I Will Be What I Will Be.” But almost immediately...

04/11/2026

I love what Conservative Rabbi Ben Herman said about the distinction between being diverse and being inclusive (citing Verna Myers, who coincidentally I used to work with long ago when I was a lawyer): "'Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.' Being invited is wonderful, but without agency in the congregation’s decision-making processes, one is not truly included."

It's progress that 75% of the congregation were in favor of by-laws under which "Non-Jews in interfaith relationships are now considered full members of the congregation, and patrilineal Jews may serve on the Board of Trustees."

But 25% is still a lot of opposition. Strongly supportive statements like Rabbi Herman's will help ensure that progress continues to be made.

At this Conservative synagogue, non-Jews may now be full members — and its rabbi hopes your synagogue will consider following suit.

04/10/2026

“Some explain 18Doors’ financial squeeze on the understandable current shift in donor giving priorities towards Israel and antisemitism that is impacting other nonprofits. In my opinion, that’s too easy. The truth is that 18Doors and others working to engage interfaith families Jewishly have never been adequately funded. If any good can come from this crisis, foundations and federations have an opportunity now to come together and fund the kind of serious effort to engage interfaith families that has long been needed — and has been clearly outlined for almost 20 years.”

The news that 18Doors has laid off two-thirds of its staff because of a budget shortfall is personally devastating. The future of the organization that was my legacy to the Jewish community, and which I was involved in until parting ways in 2016, is now in doubt; more importantly, a reduction in 18D...