This posting comes courtesy of Commentary Magazine. It is a particularly poignant read for Interfaith families, written from the non-Jewish parent's point of view. I hope you'll take the time to read it and feel free to discuss. -- Morah Judy
At her coming of age, an observant Jewish daughter feels the full blow of intermarriage; so does her devout Christian…
That Saturday morning in January, I watch as the winter sun angles through the window to break upon my daughter’s hair, pulled back in a tight, neat bun. Beside my daughter stand her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother. Three generations of women come to hear a fourth, my daughter Rachel, read from the Torah scroll.
We rise as the words roll out. Vay’daber elohim et kol ha-d’varim ha-eileh leimor. Rachel’s shoulders are draped with a shimmering cloth. She has a silver pointer the size of a large pen in her hand. She is following the verses as she chants them in Hebrew, tracing out in her mind the figures of musical ornament that she has learned for singing this portion of Scripture. My parents are behind me, along with sisters and brother, nieces and nephews, and row after row of friends who fill the sanctuary.
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