Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky with Joan Peterson Littman
Straightforward and nonjudgmental advice
for dating couples, partners,
husbands and wives, in-laws,
counselors and others.
Interfaith relationships are commonplace;
the challenges that go along with them are not. An interfaith
couple will have to confront tough questions, yet it’s
often difficult to find answers, especially when traditional
sources of help—family, friends, clergy and
counselors—are unable or unwilling to understand the
problems.
From a Jewish perspective, this book
guides interfaith couples at any stage of their
relationship—from dating and engagement, to the wedding
and marriage—and the people who are affected by their
relationship in any way, including their families and
counselors who work with interfaith couples.
While making no judgments or dictating
answers, and supporting individual choice, topics covered
include:
• What is an intermarriage?
• Why do people intermarry?
• When do you bring up the subject of
religion?
• What is conversion and is it
necessary?
• When do you discuss and decide how
children will be raised?
…and much more!
“This is an important book. It
deepens the dialogue around interfaith marriage through real
life scenarios and probing questions. This book opens the door
to essential conversations.”
—Rabbi
Karyn D. Kedar, Great Lakes
regional director, UAHC (Reform Movement); author, God Whispers: Stories of the Soul, Lessons of
the Heart
“Offers a candid, realistic
framework for interfaith couples and their relatives to think
through the issues interfaith families face. Conveys a
compassionate, affirming and ultimately optimistic outlook
about interfaith marriages that the Jewish community would do
well to adopt.”
—Edmund
Case, publisher,
InterfaithFamily.com and coeditor, The
Guide
to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An
InterfaithFamily.com Handbook
“Once again, Kerry Olitzky has given
us the book we were waiting for. It is written with wisdom,
respect and a deep desire to connect. I look forward to sharing
this book with couples with whom I work.”
—Rabbi
Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, president of
the Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association and author of Parenting As a Spiritual Journey: Deepening
Ordinary & Extraordinary Events into Sacred Occasions
Joan Peterson Littman, an educator and staff
developer, has been in an interfaith marriage for almost thirty
years and is the mother of two grown children.
