National Magazine Wants To Help Modern Jewish Families

A glossy new national magazine, which features items such as Steven Spielberg’s fried matzo recipe, seeks to promote close encounters of a Judaic kind for Jewish parents and their children.

With a mission as bold as the exclamation point at the end of its title and a circulation of 200,000, Jewish Family & Life! aims to do nothing less, says editor Yosef Abramowitz, than “transform American Jewry one family at a time.”

The magazine is the brainchild of three people - Abramowitz, a former student activist; his rabbi wife; and a publisher who converted an obscure journal about biblical archeology into a coffeetable magazine with a paid circulation of 250,000.

It is hip enough to tell readers that Madonna (no, she’s not Jewish) is a life member of the Jewish women’s organization Hadassah. It’s gossipy enough to announce births to actresses Jane Seymour, nee Joyce Frankenberg, and Marlee Matlin (yes, they are Jewish).

It’s practical enough to print tips for a child-friendly seder, or ritual Passover meal, and to list top programs for Jewish teenagers.

Drawing as much on People magazine as on the Talmud, this is Abramowitz’s answer to a stable of traditional Jewish journals that tend to draw an older readership. It’s for parents, ages 25 to 49, looking for ways to connect with their heritage but unlikely to browse the Judaica section of their local newsstand.