Tag: My Jewish Learning

  • On Passing and Not Trying to Pass My Jewish Learning 2015-07-22 Tema Smith I am black, and I am Jewish. I’ve always found comfort in the and of my identity — that simple part of speech that joins together two disparate things: two families, two histories, two cultures, two heritages, two skin colors, two lineages…

  • “Additionally, because I pass as a white Jew, I am able to walk into communal spaces and challenge some of the assumptions of who the Jewish community insiders are. My very existence often breaks down stereotypes of who we imagine to be a committed or engaged Jew.” —Tema Smith Ruth Abusch-Magder, “Three Things the Jewish…

  • Being mixed-race has always given me a broader perspective on the work I do. I came into this work as someone who had only been an observer, and not as someone who grew up in the Jewish community, which has made me attuned to the experiences of those who are new to the community.

  • This Passover Choose Judaism My Jewish Learning Be’chol Lashon 2015-03-10 Alex Barnett My wife and I are an interracial couple. I am a White, Ashkenazi Jewish man from New York. She is a Black woman from Detroit, raised in the Lutheran faith, who converted (to Jewish, not to White. She’s still Black). Our 3 year…

  • Intermarriage and Multicultural Families My Jewish Learning 2012-12-13 Ruth Abusch-Magder, Rabbi-in-Residence Be’chol Lashon, San Francisco, California Like it or not, intermarriage is a fact in Jewish life. And for the most part the Jewish community has learned to live with it. Sure, different movements deal with it differently. Sure, some congregations are more adept and…