"Our mother was a very religious and observant Jew, our father less so. She was kind of driving the religious education, so for us it was more a burden and an obligation when we were kids at that age"

This quote by Joel Coen speaks with the experience of growing up in a religious home. His mother was a really spiritual and observant Jew, while his dad was less so. This created a circumstance where his mom was the one driving the spiritual education, making it more of a burden and commitment for the kids. This could have been hard for the kids, as they may have felt obliged to follow the religious teachings of their mother, even if their daddy was not as bought it. It could have provided tension between the moms and dads, in addition to a source of disappointment for the children. It is likely that the kids felt a sense of obligation to their mother, but also a sense of bitterness for needing to follow the spiritual teachings that their father was not as bought.