Strangers to the Tribe by Gabrielle Glaser


Strangers to the Tribe
Title : Strangers to the Tribe
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0395727766
ISBN-10 : 9780395727768
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 265
Publication : First published September 25, 1997

Any marriage is an adventure, but for partners with different religious backgrounds, the journey is sure to offer some unexpected twists. In Strangers to the Tribe, the journalist Gabrielle Glaser introduces us to eleven Jewish-Gentile couples, their families, and the many ways they have found to navigate their differences. Based on candid interviews across America with couples of all ages, these true stories will inform and inspire anyone embarked on an interfaith partnership. How do Rachel and Eric, a Jewish-Episcopal couple, raise their blended family? How does the Wong family honor all the strands of its Chinese-Hawaiian-Jewish heritage? Can Robin, an outgoing Jew who dreams of becoming a rabbi, and Lee, an introverted Anglo-Catholic, keep their partnership intact? Today, more than half of America's Jews marry outside the faith. Will intermarriage dilute American Judaism beyond recognition? Or will it inspire at least some secular Jews to renew their religious identity, bringing more people into the Jewish fold? These portraits, unsparing yet nonjudgmental, show how the answers are taking shape in interfaith America.

Strangers to the Tribe Reviews

  • Stina

    I have read most of the books out there on jewish-christian interfaith marriage. I'm not up to reviewing this one in particular or catalouging them all right now, but if anyone wants a recommendation or opinion, just ask.

  • Ruth Anne

    As a practicing Jew who married outside my religion (my ex-husband's a practicing Catholic), I found this book fascinating.

    "In 'Strangers to the Tribe', Glaser introduces us to eleven Jewish-Gentile couples, their families, and the many ways they have found to navigate their differences. Based on candid interviews across America with couples of all ages, these true stories will inform and inspire anyone embarked on an interfaith partnership."

    We used to joke that Judaism and Catholicism were very similar: both are based on ritual and guilt.

    Our daughter feels that she got the best of both worlds, and wouldn't have had it any other way. She celebrated Passover and Easter, Chanukah and Christmas. She had a Jewish naming ceremony and a bat mitzvah, celebrated with the inclusion of both sides of her family, and drawing the diversity into a more closely-knit familial relationship.