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The Little Believer

What’s a secular couple to do when their 6-year-old gets into religion?

by
Julie Subrin
August 17, 2005

Michael Kimmel, Amy Aronson, and their son, Zachary

As many parents will tell you, there’s nothing quite like your own children to force you to reexamine your beliefs. Before having a son, “I never bumped up against my own thoughts about spirituality,” says Michael Kimmel. “I think many of us don’t, and I think we sort of drift.”

Kimmel, a sociologist, and his wife, writer Amy Aronson, were forced out of their drift about two years ago when their son, Zachary, took a sudden, rather pronounced interest in religion. Julie Subrin reports.

Has anything like this every happened in your family? Has a relative or friend ever forced you to rethink what it means to be Jewish? Tell us your story.

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Julie Subrin is Tablet Magazine’s executive producer for audio.

Julie Subrin is Tablet Magazine’s executive producer for audio.