In an ironic twist, now that Burch is back in the state he grew up in, his parents, enchanted by Israel on their many visits to see their son, now live there full-time. In a way, Burch muses, it's the closing of a circle that opened decades ago -- when a teenager in search of an identity first asked his mother what exactly it meant to be Jewish.

Rather, the God I feel I know by nature is a God of love, compassion, a God of inclusion. This God is neither Christian nor Muslim...or, anything else. The God I feel I know by nature is a God all people have encountered in all faith traditions and is even a God those who may have no faith tradition have encountered, either by nature or by choice.

The Conservative movement's change in rules allows Jews to eat foods like rice, corn, and peanuts that were once banned during the holiday.