What's your faith? 

    I was raised by a Jewish dad and a Catholic mom.
 
    My mom married my Episcopalian step-father when I was 11. That’s when my parents decided that before my sister and I got too mixed up, we should have one dominant faith. Judaism won out. 

    My parents joined a reform synagogue when I was 12. I had my bat mitzvah. When I was 16, I spent the summer in Israel. But as you might know, I’m not considered to be a true Jew in all circles. 

    After I first “outed” myself in the local Jewish San Francisco media, the letters started pouring in: “I feel sorry for you,” a woman wrote. “If you and I were across a table in a café I would have more loyalty to Judaism than to a woman I just met,” one man said. 

    This week, you can read all about it in the blog, Your Jewish Mother. When I was pregnant, choosing a midwife took precedence over choosing my child’s faith. When my daughter turned two, I sent her to a Jewish preschool because it was the closest to our home — and had a great reputation.
 
    As you might also know, Mae is biracial. Fortunately, in the Bay Area, the Jewish community is very diverse. Now that Mae is seven, she loves everything about Jewish tradition. But I can’t help but wonder if she’ll face the same kind of unfairness I did. If you’re a single/divorced parent, how are you raising your children? Are you finding support in your religious community? If so, how? How do you retreat? Peter Ehrlich, founder of Single Parent Love Life, and his son... retreating? 

     Thank goodness for my single dad buddies. Like Peter Ehrlich, founder of Single Parent Love Life, whom I emailed recently to tell him that this break-up was kicking my butt. Peter wrote back: Often by not trying to find anything one finds everything Sometimes the best thing to do is Retreat #33 in I Ching willingly gratefully retreat with joy Say what?
 
    He suggested that I get myself The I. Ching Workbook, so I ordered a used copy from Powell's. It arrived today, and guess what? Some other soul, in 1987 (two decades ago!), already filled out the journal in the back. It looks like a woman's handwriting. She asks in red pen: "How should I proceed to free myself from guilt, pain, and anguish?"