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FAITH
Interfaith families find support,
education at MJCCA
BY MELISSA WEINMAN
melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net
When Leslie Mintz’s chil
dren started coming home
singing the Hebrew songs
they learned at day care, she
decided she wanted to learn
them, too.
Mintz grew up Episcopa
lian, but she married a Jew
ish man, and they decided
to raise their children in the
Jewish faith.
“It kind of hit me that I
didn’t know a lot about it,”
Mintz said. “When I was 25,
I agreed to one day raise these
children Jewish, and here I
am. I want to be an involved
mom, and this isn’t my religion.”
She began attending a program at the
Marcus Jewish Community Center of
Atlanta for non-Jewish mothers raising
Jewish children. The group was called
the Mother’s Circle.
“It was education, but it was also a
nice support group because other wom
en would share challenges they were
having,” Mintz said.
The Mother’s Circle is one of the out
reach programs the Jewish Community
Center offers for interfaith families, said
Rabbi Brian Glusman, director of mem
bership outreach and engagement. “So
many of our cou
ples and families
are interfaith on
some level,” Glus
man said.
Glusman said
for both Jews and
non-Jews, it has
become more com
mon and accepted
to marry someone
from a different
SPECIAL
religious
ground.
“There’s
a greater
ness now,”
man said.
back-
just
open-
Glus-
In the
From left, Jason, 7, Leslie, Ryan,
10, and Andrew Mintz.
to Judaism.
“It jump-started my interest and
learning about the cultural and religious
side of Judaism,” Mintz said.
Glusman said conversion isn’t the
goal of the programming at the MJC
CA, however.
“My job is to make sure people in in
terfaith relationships can find a place in
the Jewish community,” Glusman said.
“We don’t demand anything of them.”
Glusman said he’s trying to make all
programming at the MJCCA more ac
cessible and welcoming for everyone. He
believes isolating interfaith families into
separate programs
i can be counterpro-
1 ductive.
“I think that
it is distancing
and off-putting
for some people,”
Glusman said.
“They don’t want
to be singled out.
They want to be
included. All our
programs are open
to all, no matter
their faith or orien
tation. I guess you
could call them ‘all
faith.’”
“In the old days, if a child
married someone of a
different faith, a parent
might have gone into
mourning over that. That
doesn’t happen anymore.”
- RABBI BRIAN GLUSMAN
MJCCA DIRECTOR OF MEMBERSHIP
OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT
old days, if a child married someone of a
different faith, a parent might have gone
into mourning over that. That doesn’t
happen anymore.”
Glusman said couples from different
religious backgrounds often begin to se
riously discuss the role of faith in their
lives once they have children.
“After the thank-you notes are writ
ten following the wedding ... there are a
host of challenges for people who are in
interfaith relationships, especially with
children. Children seem to be the cat
alyst for addressing these issues,” Glus
man said.
While attending the Mother’s Circle,
Mintz learned about other programs,
and started attending more events at the
center. She went on a community trip to
Israel, and eventually decided to convert
Shelly Buxbaum is the director of the
Lisa E Brill Institute of Jewish Learning
at the MJCCA. She and other instruc
tors teach a variety of courses for adults
about Judaism, including an Introduc
tion to Judaism course, which she said is
popular with interfaith families.
“Parents of young children want to
seriously look at these issues and core
values, and understand what their chil
dren are learning, and to bring the con
versation home,” Buxbaum said.
She said the courses are discussion-
based, and offer a pluralistic view of Ju
daism.
“It makes it meaningful for people
who are on a journey, who would like to
learn about Judaism, who would like to
hear a spectrum of opinions,” Buxbaum
said.
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