It’s the million shekel question every Jewish parent, teacher, and communal leader wants the answer to: how do you get your kids—and their kids, and their kids—to keep the faith and remain in the tribe?

Vern L. Bengston, a former Evangelical Christian, is the man with the answers. Over at the Times, Mark Oppenheimer has a fascinating piece about the 72-year-old social work professor, who has spent over 50 years studying faith, families, and religious attrition rates. Bengston’s findings—the results of interviews with over 350 families from 1969-2008—were recently published in Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations.

So what’s the secret to inculcating a love of religion and tradition in your offspring? Well, it’s important that parents model endogamy, piety, and non-hypocritical observance. (Piece of cake, huh?) But more than that, it’s about Dads cultivating positive relationships with their kids. (Which pretty much explains Mitt Romney.) “For religious transmission,” says Bengston, “having a close bond with one’s father matters even more than a close relationship with one’s mother.”

But here’s the twist: with Jewish families—perhaps because of the tradition of matrilineal descent—the mother’s influence matters more. Writes Oppenheimer: “Among Jews with a close maternal bond, 90 percent considered themselves Jewish, versus only 60 percent of those who weren’t close to their mothers.”

Whatever you’re doing, Jewish moms, keep doing it.

Read the full story here.

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In the New York Times this weekend, Mark Oppenheimer profiled Ort, the 26-year-old behind the website KosherStarbucks.com, which is exactly what it sounds like: a Starbucks trayf-o-meter.

Ort used to be a Dunkin Donuts guy, until a trip to Israel introduced him to the world of strong coffee (sounds like we stayed in the same Bedouin tent). America may run on Dunkin, but Israel evidently does not. Soon addicted to the Seattle-based coffee overlord’s offerings, Ort started the site in 2007 with his brother to keep track of what kosher-keeping Jews could and could not imbibe.

It’s more complicated than you may think. Oppenheimer explains:

Coffee beans and hot water are kosher: they do not run afoul of the biblical prohibitions against foods like pork and shellfish. But Starbucks does offer such items, for instance, breakfast sandwiches with ham. And the carafes, knives and other implements can commingle in Starbucks sinks and washing machines, which means particles from, say, a nonkosher smoothie mix can contaminate a spoon used to skim the foam off a latte.

The site uses the basic, if not very Jewish, green and red color-coded system as a guideline for consumers. Sadly, every single Frappucino is marked red (If only this was around in time to save Zoolander’s male models). The surprise kosher item on the Starbucks menu? The festive Eggnog Latte (though Ort recommends you check the eggnog certification). Here’s a sampling of Ort’s findings:

Guzzle away: Iced Coffee, Cappuccino, Caffe Misto, Cold Apple Juice (children’s menu), Espresso, all Tazo tea varieties, Orange Mango Vivanno Smoothie (protein power NOT recommended), Hot Chocolate, Gingerbread Latte (so you can fit in around Christmas).

Trayf alert: Frappucinos (that includes fan favorites Caramel, Java Chip, Peppermint Mocha, and even Pumpkin Spice), Strawberry Vivanno Smoothie, White Hot Chocolate, Caramel Macchiato, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Skinny Caramel Macchiato.

So go forth, kosher-keeping brethren, and patronize your local Starbucks chain. Just stay away from the Frappucinos (you’ll thank us later).

(Art by Margarita Korol)

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