I was raised in an interfaith household. My dad is Jewish. My mom isn’t.

“I was raised in an interfaith household. My dad is Jewish. My mom isn’t. I applied to go on a Poland trip with a Jewish organization, but I wasn’t accepted because my mom isn’t Jewish. I realized that many of my friends also have Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers, and that encouraged me to ask Temple Hillel if we could organize an Alternative Spring Break trip to Poland. And Hillel said ‘yes.’ It’s not enough to talk about our history as a Jewish people, we need to experience it firsthand. So far, we’ve received 25 applications, and we have 15 slots. Our trip is open to Jewish and non-Jewish students, which was inspired by The David Project’s Israel Uncovered trip. It will most likely be 70 percent Jewish and 30 percent non-Jewish. We’re learning about this tragedy together, and our different backgrounds and perspectives will only deepen the experience.” — Jeanne Cristello Friedlander, Temple University