Ed and Verne
Royal with
grandson Eli

Advice To Grandparents
Of Interfaith Grandchildren

• Don’t confuse support for your inter-
married children with support for inter-
marriage itself.
• Keep the holidays focused on celebra-
tion, not confrontation.
• Communicate regularly with your
grandchildren, even if they live out of
town.

attended several years ago, the
Grandparents Circle is a five-session
course designed to inspire and teach
participants ways to nurture the Jewish
identities of their grandchildren while
respecting the choices of their interfaith
adult children.
When Rabbi Dan Horwitz sits with
guests at his Shabbat dinner table, he likes
to ask the question: If there is someone
they had the opportunity to thank, who
would it be? Eight out of 10 times, it’s a
grandparent.
“This implies there is tremendous
power and potential for a grandparent
to be the transmitter of Jewish identity

• We all have a Jewish journey. Your chil-
dren may be on a different path, but it is
still a Jewish journey.
• Model a welcoming attitude to the
non-Jewish spouse of your adult child and
the spouse’s entire family.

— Verne and Ed Royal, Carol Cooper

to a grandchild,” said Horwitz, founding
director of The Well, an outreach initiative
through Temple Israel. “One of the ways
this can be done is by creating joyous holi-
day celebrations.”
Mosher’s grandchildren, who live in
South Lyon and Howell, don’t celebrate
the Jewish holidays in their homes but
look forward to spending celebrations,
including Chanukah and Passover, at their
grandparents’ house.
“There are certain customs they’ve all
grown up with and they look forward to,
but they don’t have it at their own homes,”
said Mosher, who made cookbooks for all
her grandchildren filled with her favorite

recipes, including traditional Jewish reci-
pes. Her brisket is a favorite among them.
Royal and Cooper offer a number of tips
and activities for grandparents to share
Judaism with their grandchildren, includ-
ing telling stories and showing pictures
from their Jewish past or making an art
project such as a family tree, Jewish scrap-
book or tzedakah box.
Also, check out these books written
specifically for grandparents of inter-
faith grandchildren: Mingled Roots:
A Guide for Jewish Grandparents of

Interfaith Grandchildren by Sunie Levin
and Twenty Things for Grandparents of
Interfaith Grandchildren to Do (And Not
Do) to Nuture Jewish Identity in Their
Grandchildren by Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky
and Paul Golin.

*

The Grandparents Circle is a free five-session course
that starts Thursday, Sept. 8, at Temple Israel. For
more information or to register, visit temple-israel.
org/GrandparentsCircle or call Randi Simko at (248)
661-5700.

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