Recently, we asked you to share your opinions on interfaith marriages and families in our short survey. We are so grateful for your participation, and are thrilled at the enormous response.
Here are a few takeaways we found particularly interesting:
1. A whopping 70% said it is very important to them their children identify as Jewish.
2. But then, only 40% said it is very important their child marries someone Jewish. Which implies that many of you feel you can still raise and/or identify your children as Jewish, even if your spouse is non-Jewish.
READ: I’m So Tired of Telling My Conversion Story
3. 60% of our readers have members of their extended family who are Christian. Which means many of our readers are in interfaith or diverse families.
4. 58% of readers said it is very important that their grandchildren are raised as Jewish.
5. Meanwhile, an overwhelming 71% said the Jewish community needs to be more open to interfaith couples and families.
READ: I’m Worried My Non-Jewish Wife Is Bored at Temple
Regardless of all these fancy numbers and statistics, we were left wondering what the term ‘interfaith’ actually means, and particularly, what it means to you. Do you identify with the term, or do you think a different word or phrase encompasses your identity and family structure better? Tell us in the comments below.
Thanks for sharing your opinion, dear readers. We’re happy to get to know you better.
