mrreindeer

I'll throw my hand in on this one since I'm a Reform Jew and mrsreindeer is Christian (her mom was raised Mormon, dad raised Catholic but are both now Christian). Now, I'm less spiritually Jewish and more culturally so, as a lot of the modern members of the Tribe are these days....not quite sure why that is but I think, as a whole, a lot of folks (not just Jews) are finding less and less time in their lives to devote to religion and spirituality (myself included, and it's kinda sad, I guess but I haven't done anything to change it nor do I really care at this point in time.....i.e. much too busy with other things that are taking priority).

Mrsreindeer still holds it over my head to this day (not really, she jokes about it)....that on our first date (since she was so smokin' hot) I said, ah heck, hell no, I don't need to marry a Jew. This was a wee bitty little white lie. I was raised Jewish; it's very important to me and I love everything about it culturally as it was a significant part of my upbringing. I was even a Hebrew tutor in Hebrew School and a Teacher's Assistant in Sunday School. I also spent a couple summers at a Jewish Summer Camp in Nova Scotia. Yeah, try and figure that one out...I'm an L.A. native.

So there I was lying to my wife on our first date. What I've had to explain to her is that yeah, in a perfect world, she'd be Jewish and we'd live happily ever after. But hey, I love the poor girl, can't live without her and the world ain't perfect. And marrying her was the very best thing I ever did. Up until possibly September, when we'll be introducing baby Sarah Kelly into the world. Yep, I got the Jewish first name and she's bringing her Irish heritage into the mix. It's awesome.

I think I'm getting off track but just trying to give you a little background. And you know what...we've been married almost 7 years now and haven't had any issues. With each other religiously or with family.

And I was expecting some trouble with my folks. My Dad was raised, I'd say, conservative and my Mom was raised Reform. But they both love mrsreindeer so it was really never an issue. Now, my Dad and stepmom are members of the Church of Religious Science (NOT Scientology) and I'm not quite sure how that happened but they like it so that's good. My mom hasn't been to temple in awhile so she's very relaxed religiously as well.

I guess it all depends on your girlfriend's family. How Reform is she? I'd say you've lucked out there out of all the different levels of Judaism...it'd be tougher, probably, if you guys were talking marriage and she was Conservative or Orthodox.

You might have some trouble with your family but you know your family best.

In the end, what matters most is that you guys love each other, are happy and respectful of each other's religions and your family understands you both, loves you both and respects you both for what you bring to the table.

Now that we're expecting a baby, we realize (and have talked at length) that our child will need some moral direction, lessons in spirituality, etc. and I think we can teach our baby some beautiful aspects of both our religions. It'll be a work in progress but we're happy to tackle it.

Good luck to you!