NOOR AL-MOSAWI Planning a wedding is notoriously stressful. But for the growing number of people who are falling in love with a partner of a different faith, a wedding can come with the added challenge of trying to decide how to honor their two (or more) religions. Should couples have one ceremony that…

Marrying within the faith is still common in the United States, with nearly seven-in-ten married people (69%) saying that their spouse shares their religion, according to a recentPew Research Center survey. But a comparison of recent and older marriages shows that having a spouse of the same religion may be…

Religion is a very personal thing. There’s no requirement that two people who fall in love with one another have to share the same religious beliefs. In fact, interfaith marriages are actually quite common now. Although politicians preaching a return to “family values” often talk about how families are stronger when…

On the day of our wedding, before the ceremony, we signed an interfaith ketubah, witnessed by the rabbi, my sister, and Joel’s brother, who were our maid of honor and best man. These wedding contracts traditionally refer to the couple marrying in the tradition of Moses and Israel, but ours…

Wedding planning was my first real hint that I would find meaning in the sensibilities and rituals of Judaism. Protestant wedding ceremonies tend to be short and to the point. They reflect a low-fuss sensibility that I internalized as I grew up. I associated ritual with the more formal and…

No matter what faith, culture or planet you come from, you become a part of the overall indefinable American culture, America does it to everyone! I was in a wedding yesterday, a whole bunch of us on our table were talking about the traditional Muslim culture morphing into the American…

Young statisticians in love. Can you imagine their wedding? If you do, please don’t imagine anything stuffy or stilted. Because I attended it this weekend, and it was a most excellent multicultural affair. The bride is Jewish, born to North American parents. The groom is Chinese, from a family based…

MCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, that could affect the faith of children born to a marriage in which one spouse later converts. ― Picture by Yusof Mat IsaMCCBCHST says it has not agreed to Putrajaya’s proposed…

Armed police surrounded a Sikh temple after scores of men, some carrying swords, stormed the building reportedly in an attempt to disrupt an interfaith wedding. Fifty-five people were arrested for aggravated trespass following an eight-hour siege at the Gurdwara Sahib in Leamington Spa, which has a history of tensions over…

The Rehat Maryada is unequivocal in its guidance: the Anand Karaj is strictly a ceremony for a Sikh couple. “Nothing has happened on this level before,” were among the words used to describe troubling events at a Sikh temple in Leamington Spa over the weekend. The normal serene ambience of…

We all have a choice to believe that there is someone called God who created us intentionally or there is no such thing as God. While a majority of humanity believes in an active God of the universe, nearly 10% of the humanity does not believe that there is something…

Q: Dear Rebbetzin, In the coming year I will marry a man whom I love, and who treats me with the utmost respect and love as well. I couldn’t ask for a better partner for me. The problem that my family points out (and that I was raised to understand)…

(JTA) — Newsflash: “A rabbi under the huppah may boost Jewish engagement in intermarried homes,” according to a study released this past month by the Brandeis University Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies. That’s welcome new data but no news for us, two New York-area rabbis trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary…

December 11, 2016, Washington, DC — The 3rd Annual Summit of Rabbis and Imams was held today at Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, DC. The theme of the summit was standing up for each other and building enduring relationships to contribute towards the cohesiveness of America, an America where no…

On Sunday, December 18, 2016; a model for a cohesive America was unveiled with a handful of volunteers at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC, the nation’s capitol. Eventually this model can become an anti-dote to prejudices against people of different faiths, races, cultures and ethnicities. A few pictures…

F. BRIAN FERGUSON | Gazette-Mail Jennifer and Leon Ronen, of Cross Lanes, play with their daughter, Ophira, and son, Noam, at their home earlier this week. Not pictured is their youngest son, Ari. The interfaith couple celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas, which overlap this year. On the mantel in Leon and Jennifer Ronen’s…