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News from the Network

Our birthright israel Issue Highlighted by Hillel

August 16, 2005. We're very pleased at the enthusiastic response of Hillel International to our Web Magazine issue on the experiences of young adult children of intermarried parents on birthright israel trips. Hillel highlighted and linked to our issue on its website and in its email newsletter, which you can view by clicking on the image on the left.

Religious School Survey

August 16, 2005. The Network is conducting a survey about interfaith families decisions and experiences around sending their children to religious schools. We'll report the results in the second of our upcoming issues on interfaith families and Jewish day schools, planned for October 4. Visit [???] to participate.

InterfaithFamily.com at Slingshot Launch

August 2, 2005. InterfaithFamily.com is honored to be one of fifty innovative Jewish organizations included in Slingshot, a resource book created by 21/64, a non-profit consultancy based at The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies and described by it as follows: "It is our attempt to collect some of the more remarkable new expressions of Jewish life in America and highlight those being reflective this year. This inspiring and eclectic list--from existing institutions evolving and remaining vital to more nascent and niche emerging projects--is a testament to the spirit of innovation and experimentation that lives in our community." We were at the launch party for the new resource on July 20th in New York City. To read the JTA's story on Slingshot end and the launch party, click here. To view our Slingshot page, click on the image on the left.

InterfaithFamily.com at the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland

August 2, 2005. On July 25, we made a presentation, with Brandeis professor Sylvia Barack Fishman, to the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland's new committee on services to interfaith families. The Cleveland federation joins the Washington DC and San Francisco federations which are also currently considering expanding funding of services to interfaith families. We'll reprint the story about the conference from the Cleveland Jewish News as soon as it becomes available.

Day Schools and Interfaith Families

August 2, 2005. In connection with upcoming September Web Magazine issues, we're compiling a national directory of day schools that welcome interfaith families, including families where the mother is not Jewish. If you would like your school listed in this resource, please email Heather Martin heatherm@interfaithfamily.com with your school name, address, phone number, fax number, web site (if available), contact person, email address, short description of the school, which grades are taught, etc. (if available), and a brief statement about the school's attitudes/policies regarding children from interfaith families.

New Staff at InterfaithFamily.com

July 19, 2005. On June 20, 2005, Michelle Goloborodko joined InterfaithFamily.com as Marketing Associate. Michelle is a recent graduate of Regis College with a dual degree in English and Communication and has job experience in marketing and teaching. Michelle's parents immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine before she was born. Visit Who We Are/Staff to read more about Michelle's background and experience.

InterfaithFamily.com Featured in Report of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute

July 19, 2005. The Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, established by the Jewish Agency for Israel and based in Jerusalem, recently released its second annual assessment of the condition of the Jewish people around the world. In Facing a Rapidly Changing World, the JPPPI for the first time addressed outreach to interfaith families in North America, and had this to say: "The website www.interfaithfamily.com is the primary example of the use of online technologies for the engagement of [intermarried] couples, as well as for promoting a policy of welcoming interfaith couples to the Jewish community." The entire report is available at the JPPPI website. To read the comments about us, click on the image on the left.

New Issue of The Connection

July 19, 2005. We've just mailed to Network Members the Spring 2005 issue of The Connection, our twice-a-year printed newsletter that summarizes our activities. You can access a downloadable .pdf file in our newsletter section.

InterfaithFamily.com at the American Jewish Press Association

July 6, 2005. InterfaithFamily.com president Edmund Case was a panelist at the American Jewish Press Association's annual conference in June, speaking on "Jewish Outreach: Creative Approaches" along with Debbie Coltin, executive director of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, and Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, director of the Chabad House at Harvard. Influential editors and writers from North American Jewish newspapers heard Ed describe tried and true, proven successful programs of outreach to interfaith families--and the unfortunate lack of such programs in most Jewish communities and the role of the Jewish press in influencing levels of programming.

Helpful New Wedding Resources from InterfaithFamily.com

June 7, 2005. The InterfaithFamily.com Network is pleased to make available a unique new resource, Wedding Ceremony Ideas for Interfaith Couples, a downloadable .pdf booklet comprised of poems, prayers, readings and rituals, suggestions for the order of the ceremony, and sample definitions of terms that can be used in wedding programs. The content came directly from InterfaithFamily.com's readers, who shared ideas from their own wedding ceremonies, ceremonies they had attended or at which they had officiated. At InterfaithFamily.com we continually field questions from people who ask for advice and ideas, and we know that our readers are most interested in how other people like them have dealt with similar situations. Wedding Ceremony Ideas for Interfaith Couples will serve a useful function by providing appropriate readings and rituals that others have used to acknowledge the love that unites two different lives and backgrounds. To access the booklet, click here; to access the accompanying Tips for Inclusive Weddings, click here.

Dru Greenwood Joins InterfaithFamily.com's Advisory Board

May 24, 2005. InterfaithFamily.com is excited to announce the newest member of our Advisory Board, Dru Greenwood. Currently the director of synagogue renewal for the UJA Federation of New York, Dru until recently was the national director of outreach for the Reform Movement. One of the most experienced (and beloved) outreach professionals in the country, her work has helped hundreds of synagogues and Jewish professionals to become more welcoming, and has influenced the Jewish choices of thousands of individuals. InterfaithFamily.com is fortunate to be the beneficiary of her expertise and commitment.

InterfaithFamily.com at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

May 24, 2005. We're pleased to announce that InterfaithFamily.com is co-sponsoring the Northern California premiere of the French film Rashevski's Tango at the 25th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. We will be partnering with the Jewish Outreach Consortium of the Bay Area (which includes Interfaith Connection at the JCC of San Francisco, Building Jewish Bridges of the Greater East Bay Jewish Federation, and Project Welcome of the Union for Reform Judaism) to extend outreach and deepen audience appreciation of the interfaith themes raised in Sam Gabarski's film. The film is showing on July 28 in San Francisco, on July 31 in Berkeley, on August 1 in Mountain View, and on August 7 in San Rafael.

InterfaithFamily.com Featured in May 2, 2005 JTA Article

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s new “Jewish identity” reporter, Sue Fishkoff, featured InterfaithFamily.com and its writers in a May 2, 2005 article, “Non-Jewish mothers face conversion dilemma.” In addition to quoting Edmund Case for the position that “a more welcoming Jewish community will lead to less isolation of the non-Jewish spouse, and ultimately to more Jewish choices,” Fishkoff quoted InterfaithFamily.com writers Teresa McMahon and Rena Mello. Fishkoff is an award-winning journalist whose work includes The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch (Schocken 2003).

Successful April 26, 2005 “Friend-raiser” for InterfaithFamily.com

Over forty people attended InterfaithFamily.com’s April 26, 2005 “friend-raiser” in the Boston area. Dr. Bernie Steinberg, Executive Director of Harvard Hillel, gave a fascinating presentation on his experiences dealing with children of intermarried parents exploring their Jewish identity while in college and graduate school. Edmund Case discussed how InterfaithFamily.com addressed that and other populations involved in interfaith relationships. Among the attendees were Barry Shrage, President of Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies, who praised InterfaithFamily.com for fulfilling the need to “give people in interfaith relationships access to the personal stories of others like them” and for being a “conduit to the beauty and power of Jewish life.” Other leaders of the Boston Jewish community in attendance included Steve Grossman, Jonathan and Margot Davis, Alan Solomont, and Susan Ansin.

Nathalie Ross Joins the Board of Directors of InterfaithFamily.com

InterfaithFamily.com is excited to announce the newest member of our Board of Directors, Nathalie Ross. Nathalie lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband and three children and cares passionately about Jewish outreach to interfaith families. Among her many activities, Nathalie is a Vice Chair of the United Jewish Communities' National Young Leadership Cabinet, is the 2005 Campaign Chair-Elect of the Greensboro Jewish Federation, and is on the Board of Trustees of B'nai Shalom Day School.

InterfaithFamily.com is Looking for Unique Interfaith Wedding Ceremonies and Moments

The InterfaithFamily.com Network is asking our members and readers to "Share Your Wedding Ceremony." The Network gets many requests for sample inclusive wedding ceremonies, and for help finding rabbis who officiate or co-officiate at intermarriages. We deal with every kind of interfaith couple--Jewish and any other religion (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc.), Jewish and any other ethnic or cultural tradition, straight or gay. Who better to ask to help respond to these requests than you, visitors to our website! Interfaith couples, their relatives and friends, and professionals who officiate at interfaith weddings, are invited to send an email to weddings@interfaithfamily.com by May 6, 2005, ideally with your wedding ceremony as an attachment, describing what was memorable and inclusive about the ceremony. We will compile the information and make it available as a resource to all.

Heather Martin Joins InterfaithFamily.com as Vice President

On April 11, 2005, Heather Martin joined InterfaithFamily.com as Vice President of Marketing and Operations. Heather holds an MBA degree and has extensive experience in both the for-profit and non-profit worlds, most recently as a vice president of Jewish Family & Life! and director of its JSkyway online learning program. Visit Who We Are/Staff to read more about Heather's background and experience.

Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund Awards Grant to InterfaithFamily.com

In April 2005, the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund of San Francisco, an early and long-standing supporter, awarded InterfaithFamily.com a new grant of $95,000for general operating support. We are extremely grateful to the members of the Board of the Fund and to Dr. Debbie Findling, our program officer.

InterfaithFamily.com on Beliefnet

InterfaithFamily.com was featured on Beliefnet, a leading religion website, in December 2004 as a resource for interfaith families dealing with the December holidays. To access Beliefnet's presentation, click here.

An Extraordinary Statement

Barry Shrage, president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, delivered an extraordinary videotaped statement about the importance of outreach to the intermarried at the Faithways conference in Philadelphia on October 17, 2004. We're pleased to make the statement widely available-- to download the video click here it will take several minutes but it is well worth the wait! For a free download of RealPlayer, click here.

InterfaithFamily.com in Time magazine!

InterfaithFamily.com was featured in a September 27, 2004 Time magazine article, "New Branches: How Grandparents are Coming to Terms with Grandchildren Raised in a Different Religion" by Sally Stich. You can read the article on the Time.com website.

An Extraordinary Blessing

We want you to know about an extraordinary blessing given on Yom Kippur morning 2004 by Rabbi Janet Marder at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills CA. Rabbi Marder, who is the president of the Reform rabbis' association, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, called all of the non-Jewish spouses and partners in the congregation up for a special blessing, thanking them for their participation in raising Jewish children. You can read her powerful words on the Beth Am website.