Genealogy is the study of family. It is a great way for you to learn more about your heritage. Sometimes, these kinds of discoveries can influence people to make changes about how they want to raise their children. Gwyneth Paltrow has announced that she is planning on raising her children in the religion that reflects her family’s heritage.
The popular genealogy television program called “Who Do You Think You Are?” has recently completed its Second Season. You can watch several of the episodes from that season on the NBC website right now, (as well as many clips from the first season of the show).
One of the people who was featured on the second season of “Who Do You Think You Are?” was the actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Every episode takes a celebrity, and does some investigation into their family tree, heritage, and ancestors. Somehow, the show manages to reveal something about each celebrity’s ancestors or family history that the individual celebrity had no idea about.
The episode that focused on Gwyneth Paltrow also came with a discovery. Her father was the Jewish film producer Bruce Paltrow, (something the actress was well aware of). It turns out that he descended from a long line of influential eastern European rabbis.
After discovering this about her heritage, Gwyneth Paltrow has made the decision that she will be passing along at least some Jewish customs to her children. Her daughter, Apple, is seven, and her son, Moses, is five. The actress herself says that she was raised Jewish, and felt that it was a nice way to grow up. She will be teaching her children to observe the Sabbath, to keep a Kosher living environment, and to celebrate Jewish holidays.
Despite this, Gwyneth Paltrow has stated that she doesn’t believe in religion, but she does believe in spirituality. Considering this belief, one might assume that her decision to raise her children with Jewish customs was influenced by her discovery about her father’s family tree.
Technically speaking, according to Jewish law, Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t actually Jewish. This is something that is passed from mothers who are Jewish to their children. The actress’s father was Jewish, but her mother, the actress Blythe Danner, is Christian. Even so, there isn’t anything that prevents Gwyneth Paltrow from choosing to raise her children with Jewish traditions.
Image by Juanky Pamies Alcubilla on Flickr