Becoming a Jewish Parent: How to Explore Spirituality and Tradition with Your Children - Softcover

Gordis, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0609805266 ISBN 13: 9780609805268

Publisher: Three Rivers Press, 2000

Synopsis

How do you talk to your kids about God?

Raising Jewish children in today's secular culture poses unique and serious challenges. How do you instill a positive, vital sense of identity, religion, and heritage without turning off your kids or overwhelming them? How do you explain what it means to be Jewish if you are ambivalent about it yourself? And perhaps most important, how do parents who have little or no formal religious training themselves pass on rich, multilayered traditions that may have been missing from their own childhood experiences? Filled with delightful and inspiring anecdotes, thoughtful information about the history, holidays, and traditions that shape Judaism, as well as a useful glossary and thorough reference section, Becoming a Jewish Parent offers guidance on such topics as:
Using ritual to make space for feeling
Talking about God when we have our doubts
Incorporating girls into what has been a primarily male tradition
Becoming part of a community that supports your ideals

Becoming a Jewish Parent is the book to turn to at every phase of your family's spiritual quest.

About this title

About the Author

A rabbi and professor, DANIEL GORDIS is the author of two previous books: God Was Not in the Fire: The Search for a Spiritual Judaism and Does the World Need Jews?: Rethinking Chosenness and American Jewish Identity. He and his wife are raising a daughter and two sons.

From the Back Cover

"This book is a gem. It shows us how to enrich our children's lives with Judaism, from the moment they wake up to that blessed moment they fall asleep -- and everything in between. In the process, we become better parents and smarter Jews."
-- Ari L. Goldman, author of The Search for God

"An act of love and faith on the part of its author, this is one of the finest treatments of spirituality and parenting ever published. . . . A masterpiece of intelligence and clarity."
-- Library Journal

From the Inside Flap

alk to your kids about God?

Raising Jewish children in today's secular culture poses unique and serious challenges. How do you instill a positive, vital sense of identity, religion, and heritage without turning off your kids or overwhelming them? How do you explain what it means to be Jewish if you are ambivalent about it yourself? And perhaps most important, how do parents who have little or no formal religious training themselves pass on rich, multilayered traditions that may have been missing from their own childhood experiences? Filled with delightful and inspiring anecdotes, thoughtful information about the history, holidays, and traditions that shape Judaism, as well as a useful glossary and thorough reference section, Becoming a Jewish Parent offers guidance on such topics as:
Using ritual to make space for feeling
Talking about God when we have our doubts
Incorporating girls into what has been a primarily male tradition
Becoming part of a commu

Edition details

• Publisher: Three Rivers Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0609805266
• ISBN 13: 9780609805268
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448