Newmarket Press: Raising Your Jewish/Christian Child

Raising Your Jewish/Christian Child
How Interfaith Parents Can Give Children the Best of Both Their Heritages
Second Edition
by Lee F. Gruzen
Introduction by Lavey Derby, Joel A. Gibson, Sheila Gordon

Paperback $16.95, published May 2001, ISBN: 978-1-55704-414-3
288 Pages
5 3/8" x 8"
Bibliography, Checklists, Index

Childcare and Parenting

Synopsis

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, co-founder and director of the Trinity Interfaith Community Program.

Reviews

"A compassionate response to familial and religious concerns...Fills a growing need for discussion of options available to interfaith couples. "

Booklist

"Thoughtful and pioneering. "

Library Journal

"An endearing message on a thorny subject...Both a ray of hope and a helping hand to families who wish to celebrate the duality of faith and culture. "

Egon Mayer, President of the Intermarriage Institute and Professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College

"No life is easy but one can hope it will be interesting and, as Lee Gruzen's book makes clear, children of mixed marriages have the advantage of getting off to a fast start. "

Joan Ganz Cooney, Creator of Sesame Street and former president of the Children's Television Workshop