Raising Your Jewish/Christian Child: How Interfaith Parents Can Give Children the Best of Both Their Heritages, Second Edition
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Raising Your Jewish/Christian Child: How Interfaith Parents Can Give Children the Best of Both Their Heritages, Second Edition
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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
Open Minded:
This was the first book I read on this subject. After getting my friends' opinions of how they have been raising their children with each parent a different religion, I felt I needed more advice from a neutral party. This book helped me become much more open minded about how I could bring a baby into the world with each parent having completely different beliefs. It helped me to see how we can both raise our child with our own religious beliefs while fully respecting each other.
An interfaith child's view:
I'm sure that Ms. Gruzen has the best of intentions behind this book but I'm afraid that is will not be helpful to interfaith couples. First I must object to the term 'Jewish/Christian' as it's inaccurate for the majority of children. Most of us are, and just prefer to be called the religion we practice i.e. Jewish, Cathloic, Mormon, etc. as is our right. Each has a definition that includes those of mixed backgrounds and that can be a definition itself for those who don't have a set faith.
An invaluable compendium of keen observation & sound advice:
Now in a completely revised, expanded and updated second edition, Lee Gruzen's Raising Your Jewish/Christian Child: How Interfaith Parents Can Give Children The Best Of Both Their Heritages continues to be an invaluable compendium of keen observation and sound advice for interfaith parenting. All of the problems and challenges confronting a Jewish/Christian family are drawn from hundreds of interviews as well as Gruzen's extensive professional research and personal experience. The issues covered wide range... more info
Helpful for those seeking a non-excluively Jewish route:
I found this book to be one of the first I discovered that truly examined the option of raising a child to know and respect BOTH religions of the parents. Up until I read this book I was saddened that all advice I'd read said, "Pick one religion and stick with it..."
This seemed too simplistic It would necessarily exclude one parent from sharing their own childhood faith with their kids in a meaningful way. We intend to raise our own children as Jews, but I also want them to have a sense of respect and... more info
