As intermarriage grows among Jews, the High Holidays represent a tricky negoitation.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2012
BY SACHI FUJIMORI
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
After graduating from Barnard College, Julie Rosendorf did all the right things to find a good Jewish husband, dating the men her parents would approve of. But matters of the heart can take their own course; Rosendorf ended up falling in love with and marrying a college friend, a Catholic from Oklahoma.
Today Julie and Jay Don Johnson, of Franklin Lakes, are raising two boys: Jake, 9, and Jed, 5. Although Jay Don has not converted to Judaism, he’s on board with Julie’s desire to raise her sons in her faith. “I have a strong Jewish identity and I needed a commitment from him that we would raise our children Jewish,” said Julie, who chairs Barnert Temple’s Interfaith Group.
As Rosh Hashana — the Jewish New Year — begins tonight, commencing a 10-day period of spiritual reflection ending with Yom Kippur, a growing number of interfaith families will be navigating the tricky territory of observing the most sacred holidays on the Jewish calendar.
