Book definitely sparked my interest in Jusdaism as a potential system for raising my own children in the way I had wanted to especially regarding dating & choosing a lifelong soul mate.
What also interested me was the way Purity of speech is explained by the author. I'm struggling with this all the time in terms of words spoken in anger to loved ones. I feel that Purity of speech as explained will give me grounded / logical / easier to follow method to control myself when in anger since I am internalizing the understanding that these angry words once spoken can harm everyone who hears it & the harm done cannot be undone no matter how sincerly sorry I can be afterwards.
As a result of reading the book, it made me interested in reading more about the Judaism system & how it can apply to my daily life to lead a more meaningful life. I am not looking for conversion since I'm a happy Buddhist of Chinese origin but to undertand the precepts/laws and how this can be systematically applied to resolve daily problems & bring spiritual growth.
Over 50% of American Jews intermarry. In an effort to counter the cultural assimilation arising from interfaith relationships, Rabbis, community leaders, and family members struggle to educate Jewish men and women of what the consequent issues of a mixed marriage will invoke ranging from pressure from a spouse to convert, to keeping kosher, to circumcision of newborn males, to raising children as Jewish, to avoiding family gatherings to the emotional pain of a gentile spouse. Chicken Soup With Chopsticks: A Jew's Struggle For Truth In An Interfaith Relationship by Jack Botwinik is a personal example of one man's efforts within the framework of his own interfaith courtship and marriage to a Chinese woman and how the two of them dealt with the unfolding consequences of their interfaith relationship. An account of candor, insight, reflection, and experience, also available in a hardcover edition, Chicken Soup With Chopsticks is a unique and thoroughly "reader friendly" contribution to the growing library of books on the subject of contemporary Judaism and Interfaith Marriage.
