I write in support of Lord Sinderby. Surely you’ve seen his character on “Downton Abbey”: more dour than Carson the butler, more rigid than Lord Grantham, Sinderby is a self-made Jew who is implacably opposed to his son’s marriage to a non-Jew. On the very morning of the wedding in a registry (no church or…
(JTA) — As a longtime promoter of Jewish-Muslim dialogue in Denmark, Naveed Baig is no stranger to Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue. The imam at the capital’s Danish Islamic Center, Baig, 39, has on numerous occasions sat under the structure’s gold-and-white ceiling meeting with people he calls his “Jewish brethren” to discuss issues of common concern. On…
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz rescinded comments she made about the problems that intermarriage poses for the Jewish community. “I do not oppose intermarriage; in fact, members of my family, including my husband, are a product of it,” Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the head of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement issued Tuesday, according to…
(Haaretz) — The Jewish Telegraphic Agency wire service ran an article about the United Synagogue Youth’s annual international convention, under the headline “USY drops ban on interdating.” Unfortunately, this headline, which was widely circulated among Jewish news outlets, failed to capture the real issue that emerged from the confab. A more apt headline would have been…
(JTA) — Within days of floating a proposal that woud have allowed Conservative rabbis to perform interfaith marriages, Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz of Temple Emanuel in Newton, Mass., backed away from the controversial plan. In a recent email, Gardenswartz asked congregants to consider a proposal for a new shul policy that would enable him to officiate at…
Sometimes it can feel like a White Christmas with every Hanukkah card you write. While clearly ’tis the season for Christmas cards and letters, Jews feel a swirling snow globe of emotions when it comes to sending holiday cards, even ones that blandly wish the recipients “Happy Holidays.” Most generic cards don’t scream “Victory for…
Getty Images I think Keren McGinity has a crystal ball. McGinity, a groundbreaking scholar, captures the telling details and the idiosyncratic trajectory of interfaith relationships and marriages in America. But as academic as McGinity’s work is, it is also highly personal. Her parents, both Jewish, divorced when she was ten years-old. Each of them went…
Jews and Muslims in the United Kingdom issued a joint statement, calling for peace in the Middle East, and “constructive dialogue” between the two groups in Britain. “In spite of the situation in the Middle East, we must continue to work hard for good community relations in the UK. We must not import conflict. We…
