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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The work in cultural Judaism usually falls to the mother.  She is the one typically responsible for making holiday dinners, shabbat, cleaning the house for pesach, shopping for hanukkah.

The religious teachings tend to fall to the synagogue.

The dads that I know that are involved in the religious upbringing of their jewish children are well versed in torah, religious teachings, and the underlying meanings.  They are heavily involved in the jewish community--they are the type of men that would not marry a non-jewish woman.

Much of raising a jewish child is about continuing on the traditions.  It's hard to teach a child traditions that you did not grow up with.  Yes, you can follow the rules but honestly, they often don't make any sense (and I'm jewish).  There are just things that we do.  I'm sure that I could go to the rabbi and learn the reasons behind our traditions but the specifics just aren't important to me and I follow the traditions "because it's what we do".

I have a few non jewish friends that are raising their kids jewish.  The common denominator I've seen is that when their husbands met them they were already on the path to conversion---they weren't converting for their husband, it was something that they felt that they had to do for themselves.  Once they were married, their MILs helped them to learn the traditions that their husbands had grown up with. [/quote]

This is an interesting analysis and I never really thought of it that way.  In our house, I (the non-Jewish mom) do the "work" of Jewish upbringing because it feels like it's the one thing accessible to me:  research recipes, cook the meal, make sure we have all the supplies, coordinate with grandma and guests, etc.  My MIL does help.  I wouldn't say I was on the road to Judaism before I met my DH, but I was definitely open to it and had lost all connection to my native Catholicism.  I still don't consider myself Jewish in any way, except for as the mother of a Jew!  [b]My DH (the Jewish one) doesn't really do much except show up but I feel he does the ONE most important thing:  leads the prayers  in Hebrew and lights the candles.  He also reads the bible to our son, although he seems to split it pretty evenly between old and new testament[/b].  [/quote]

Well, Judaism doesn't think that is the ONE most important thing.  The most important things are the day-to-day practices taking place in the home.

Why on earth is your Jewish DH reading the New Testament to his Jewish son?[/quote]

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