TWIH Episode 71: Creating Interfaith Families with Rabbi Mychal Copeland

In this episode of TWIH we talk to Rabbi Mychal Copeland, editor of “Struggling in Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives” and Director of InterfaithFamily/Bay Area. We talk about her decision to go to rabbinical school, the varied interpretations of the bible, and how to navigate being part of an interfaith couple. How does being an interfaith couple today compare to the past? How does talking together about people’s experiences with religious traditions help families work out how to get along spiritually? How do we heal from our respective church burn when one’s partner (or partners) is practicing a form of the tradition that caused it? How can community help significant others through the ups and downs of an interfaith family in our society?     Rabbi Mychal Copeland is the Bay Area Director of InterfaithFamily after having served as Rabbi at Hillel at Stanford for 11 years.  She has worked with interfaith couples and families throughout her rabbinate, and her blog about interfaith family life can be found at InterfaithFamily.com.  Mychal writes a monthly Torah column for the J: Jewish News Weekly of Northern California.  She is the co-editor of Struggling in Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives [Skylight Paths Publishing, 2015].  She is passionate about opening the doors of Judaism wider and leading people towards a profound spiritual and religious life that embraces all of their disparate identities.  Mychal is married to Kirsti Copeland and they have two children.   Links Website: http://strugglingingoodfaith.com/ Facebook for Struggling in Good Faith: https://www.facebook.com/strugglingingoodfaith/ Rabbi Mychal’s Huffington Post Blog Facebook for Interfaith Family: https://www.facebook.com/groups/InterfaithFamilySanFranciscoBayArea/   Books Struggling in Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives edited by by Rabbi Mychal Copeland MTS and D'vorah Rose BCC