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Interfaith
Also written: intercultural, multi-heritage, multi-faith
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At a glance
Source-by-source
“If it is necessary to refer to a couple or family’s religious identity, use descriptive terms like Interfaith, Intercultural, Multi-heritage, Multi-faith. Many interfaith families consider themselves to be simply Jewish families! If you’re unsure …”
Writing for Jewish organizations, 18Doors treats "interfaith" as the best available umbrella term for families whose partners come from different religious backgrounds, while noting it is imprecise. When religious identity must be named, it recommends descriptive terms — Interfaith, Intercultural, Multi-heritage, Multi-faith — over labels that define people by what they are not (it specifically discourages "non-Jew"). The governing rule is to ask people how they want to identify; many interfaith families consider themselves simply Jewish families.
“There is a wide range of families captured by the term “interfaith”. Unfortunately, the term itself is not precise and sometimes not quite accurate – however, it is the best one we have in our vocabulary at this point …”
18Doors is candid that "interfaith" is an imperfect catch-all: the families it covers can be Jewish/another-faith, Jewish/no-faith, blended, adoptive, or extended, and even some Jewish/Jewish couples have interfaith families through conversion or marriages in their families of origin. The guide keeps the term because it is the most usable one available, not because it is exact.
“This refers to activities or events that draw people from entirely different religious traditions, such as Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims. It is not a synonym for ecumenical, which refers to a multiplicity of Christian traditions, or interdenominational.”
The Diversity Style Guide defines "interfaith" precisely as activities or events spanning entirely different religious traditions, and draws a usage boundary: it is not interchangeable with "ecumenical" (which is internal to Christian traditions) or "interdenominational" (one faith, multiple denominations). The entry is a distinction rule for journalists, not a caution against the term.
Audience notes
- Jewish organizations and internal comms
- 18Doors is the authority here. Use "interfaith" (or Intercultural / Multi-heritage / Multi-faith) as a descriptive term, never frame anyone as a "non-Jew," and don't qualify a family member's Jewishness. When in doubt, ask how people want to identify — many interfaith families consider themselves simply Jewish families.
- Journalists and editors
- Per the Diversity Style Guide, keep "interfaith" distinct from "ecumenical" (within Christianity) and "interdenominational" (one faith, several denominations). "Interfaith" specifically means more than one religious tradition — Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and so on.
- When someone self-describes differently
- If a person uses a term you'd otherwise avoid to describe their own family, don't correct them. Self-identification is primary; 18Doors advises respecting the words people choose while continuing to model inclusive language yourself.
Synthesis
The two sources come at “interfaith” from different tasks and agree on the core
point: it is a usable, appropriate term whose value is that it describes rather
than defining people by exclusion. The Diversity Style Guide, writing for
journalists, treats it as plainly correct and spends its entry on precision.
“Interfaith” means more than one religious tradition (Christians, Jews,
Buddhists, Muslims) and should not be swapped for “ecumenical” (internal to
Christianity) or “interdenominational” (one faith, several denominations).
18Doors, writing for Jewish organizations and the people who staff them, reaches
the same endorsement by another route: it is candid that the word is “not
precise and sometimes not quite accurate,” but keeps it as the best available
umbrella for families whose partners come from different religious backgrounds.
They differ in how much caution they carry, which tracks their audiences. The
Diversity Style Guide cares about taxonomic accuracy and issues no warning about
the term itself. 18Doors adds a relational caution that a newsroom glossary has
no reason to carry: avoid defining anyone by what they are not (its argument
against “non-Jew”), prefer affirming descriptors — Interfaith, Intercultural,
Multi-heritage, Multi-faith — and never grade a person’s religious identity.
18Doors treats self-identification as the tiebreaker: ask people how they want
to identify and respect the words they choose even when those differ from the
guide’s own recommendations.
The two entries are contemporaneous (both captured in 2023) and not in tension.
The Diversity Style Guide settles what the word denotes; 18Doors settles how to
use it with care inside the communities it most often describes. A sourcing
note: this page rests on two organizations. CAIR, SEIU, and the Immigrant
Defense Project surfaced in the keyword scan but were incidental — a theological
passage on relations with other faiths, bilingual translation-table entries, and
an organization’s name in a contact list, respectively — none of them a guidance
position on the term.
Audience notes
See the structured audience notes above. Jewish-organization communicators
should follow 18Doors on descriptive, affirming language and never the
“non-Jew” framing. Journalists should keep the Diversity Style Guide’s
distinction between interfaith, ecumenical, and interdenominational. In every
case, defer to how people identify themselves.
Related terms