Synopsis

Leaps of Faiths is a documentary about love stories. It explores what happens when love is tested by faith, and faith is tested by love, through the experiences of interfaith (Jewish-Catholic) couples and families.

80% of Reform Jews who got married in the last 5 years intermarried, and a majority of American Jews today are partnered with someone of a different cultural or religious background. In a world that can seem increasingly polarized and tribal, interfaith families are crossing borders.

The topic is controversial, particularly in Jewish communities, concerning the potential impact on the future of American Judaism. Rather than solving the controversy, the film follows the experiences of families taking different paths: practicing a single faith and sharing both… what that looks like, and whether it’s possible. Children who grew up interfaith are interviewed as 8th graders and as adults, reflecting on their experiences. With dedicated and supportive clergy, congregations and interfaith communities like those in Chicago, New York and Washington D.C., couples can begin this journey while dating and receive guidance and a solid foundation for a future of belonging and acceptance.

A Jew and a Catholic may have grown up looking at the other faith as “over there” or “the other” … but when they fall in love, that’s no longer possible. They’re family, and that’s when things get really interesting.