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Old 08-13-2004, 03:00 PM
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Devora Devora is offline
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Great question, but I really don't have an answer. My husband and I are adopting. Not only is he Catholic and I'm Jewish, but I'm a convert and all of my family is Catholic, too.

For years now (in part because of practicalities with traveling over the holidays) my husband and I have celebrated Chanukah with one another at our home and then we celebrate Christmas with extended family. I think that's what we'll continue to do when we have a child.

I am wondering how other people in mulit-religious families have gone about raising their children. I know this will be controversial to some, but my husband and I have decided to raise our child with both of our faiths and let them choose how they are going to live out their own faith as they grow older.

I know some people say that this won't work, but I've actually seen it work very well with some adults I know who were raised that way. I think what does NOT work well is raising a child without really practicing either faith and then expecting them to make a heartfelt decision.

I'm very hesitant, though, about how this will be accepted by my Jewish community. I currently am a member of a Conservative synagogue and I have my doubts about their openness to this. I don't want my child to have to hide anything so may have to find a different community eventually.

Any experiences people can share would be very welcome!

Devora
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