InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. is a nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that helps and provides resources for couples with one Jewish partner and one non-Jewish partner and their families. InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. publishes a biweekly online magazine, maintains an online resource for programs and services for intermarried couples and their families and advocates for more welcoming attitudes toward interfaith families in the organized American Jewish community. InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is based in Newton, Massachusetts

Newton, Massachusetts

Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...

.

Content and Coverage

InterfaithFamily.com specifically targets couples where only one partner is Jewish. It does not address other kinds of intermarriage, such as racial intermarriage or religious intermarriage where neither partner is Jewish.

The clergy officiation referral service, which can be found at interfaithfamily.com/findarabbi, helps hundreds of couples a month find Jewish clergy to officiate or co-officiate at interfaith weddings.

The biweekly web magazine includes a mix of personal narratives from people in interfaith relationships (as well as their families), opinion pieces from Jewish outreach professionals who are sympathetic to InterfaithFamily.com's goals and reprinted news and features from both mainstream and Jewish publications.

The website also includes resource pages that include tips and links to their archives for people interested in specific issues such as interfaith weddings or raising Jewish children in interfaith families. In 2007, the organization created the Resource Center for Jewish Clergy, which helps interfaith couples find clergy to officiate at their weddings and resources for rabbis and cantors who officiate or are considering officiating.

The site has a searchable database of programs, services and events for interfaith couples and families. It includes listings of synagogues, independent Jewish outreach programs, Jewish community centers and other Jewish organizations or institutions.

Political Context

Since the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey

National Jewish Population Survey

The National Jewish Population Survey , most recently performed in 2000-01, is a representative survey of the Jewish population in the United States sponsored by United Jewish Communities and the Jewish Federation system....

 revealed that more than 50 percent of new marriages involving a Jewish partner were intermarriages, intermarriage has been a significant and controversial issue in the American Jewish community.

The various denominations of Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 oppose intermarriage. None of the more liberal movements, including Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...

, Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...

 and Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as a branch of Conservative Judaism, before it splintered...

, encourage intermarriage, but their approach to intermarried couples and their children varies.

InterfaithFamily.com specifically advocates that intermarried couples raise their children Jewish and discourages families from raising their children with two religions. Its suggested approach towards intermarriage is closest in line with the Jewish Reform and Reconstructionist movements.

InterfaithFamily.com's position on the Who is a Jew debate is that a child with at least one Jewish parent, whether it's the mother or father, is a Jew.

History

Jewish Family & Life! launched the online magazine InterfaithFamily.com in November 1998. Edmund Case became the publisher of the magazine in May 1999.

In 2001, InterfaithFamily.com, Inc. was incorporated and acquired the online magazine InterfaithFamily.com from Jewish Family & Life!. Since then InterfaithFamily.com expanded its offerings to include an advocacy network and a database of programs and services for intermarried couples and their families called Connections in Your Area.

In 2009, InterfaithFamily.com re-launched its website and added tools to help personalize users experiences and build community online. The new site includes full social networking functionality and searchable organization and professional listings.

Publications

Friedland, Ronnie and Case, Edmund, ed. The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2001.

External links

• InterfaithFamily.com
• Attitudes Toward Intermarriage (from MyJewishLearning.com)
• Jewish Outreach Institute