Susan Katz Miller's Blog

We have known for years that a significant percentage of interfaith families choose to practice both religions. In just one recent example, a study released this fall of the Jewish community in Northeast Florida (including Jacksonville) found 42% of interfaith families raising their children “Jewish and something else,” versus only 28% raising them “Jewish only.”

What Jewish Community Studies Do, and Do Not, Tell Us

And there’s reason to believe that these Jewish community studies und...

In the beginning, in the 1980s, a lot of skeptics wondered whether there would be an enduring need for upstart interfaith communities created by and for interfaith families. If churches and synagogues would only be more open to interfaith families, the thinking went, maybe people would just join inclusive churches and synagogues instead. The desire to do all the extra work of creating independent communities would fade away.

But three decades later,...

Twelve years ago today, Beacon Press published my first book, Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family. The hardcover and ebook editions in 2013 were followed by the paperback in 2014, the Interfaith Family Journal in 2019, and the audiobook in 2022.

On this blog twelve years ago, I wrote, “My dream is that the book will inspire a national conversation around the fact that many interfaith families are choosing both religions.”

In short, I have been living that dre...

Last night, New York City chose the young, brilliant, and dashing Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary for Mayor. The City is now likely to have a new Mayor who is a democratic socialist, who speaks truth to Trump’s power, who stands up for Palestine, and who has galvanized the youth vote. His win is a rebuke to Trump, to those who try to paint criticism of the Israeli government as antisemitism, and to all centrist Democrats.

Mamdani identifies clearly, and proudly, as Muslim.

An...

My Jewish family left New Orleans four generations ago, after a series of tragedies. But today, I feel a spiritual connection to the city, and I am doing all I can to reclaim my heritage there. To understand the gothic drama of this story (my husband suggests I write it as a ghost story), you have to go back 150 years, to my great-great-grandparents, Newman and Gusta Adler.

The Adler saga is now included in the marvelous Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which opened in New Orl...

It has been a full decade since Pew released their last national Religious Landscape Study, so the arrival this week of the 2023-24 version sent everyone in the religion world scurrying to see what has changed, and what has not.

For me, these studies are always an opportunity to look at how Pew is viewing interfaith families and interfaith identities. And this year, I asked Pew some follow-up questions, about people who claim more than one religion, as I did ten year...

I am afraid I am not the least bit objective on the topic of Tanya Sadagopan’s new book, From Outlaw to In-Law: How Multicultural Couples Can Become Agents for Social Change. My hearty endorsement is printed on the back cover:  

“…the first book to document at length how interfaith couples are inspired to become activists. It is an important addition to the growing body of literature detailing the lives of interfaith couples, and how their bravery and compassion helps to create a more flu...

As an interfaith activist, 2024 was a strange year for me (and for many interfaith activists).

Working to support interfaith families felt surreal, given the continuing destruction of Gaza. At the same time, I did not feel I could desist from my life’s work now. Sometimes the double-whammy of the continuing pandemic (I have covid right now) and the genocide made me want to give up and retire. But I did not have the heart to turn away couples who came to me for support, or religious leader...

This year, the eight nights of Hanukkah start on December 25th. Although that may sound overwhelming, this year’s timing provides space for both holidays. By the time you light the first Hanukkah candles, Christmas celebrations (on Christmas Eve and morning) will be over. And, Hanukkah does not have to compete with the busy season of holiday concerts and office parties leading up ...

Books featuring interfaith kids are still few and far between. So I welcome a new picture book centered on the fact that Hanukkah starts this year on Christmas Day. It’s a heartwarming addition to the small collection of books about families that celebrate both holidays. (And I have just added it to my roundup of many of those books all in one place, here).

Gingerbread Dreidels was written by Jane Breskin Zalben, an experienced children’s book author. As it happens, Zalben’s many books on...