“The Conservative movement is torn between two conflicting positive imperatives,” said Steven Bayme, director of the Contemporary Jewish Life Department of the American Jewish Committee. “Given the reality of mixed marriage, it’s of enormous importance[…]
The denominational war for the heart and soul of American Judaism is over. The struggle of the early generation of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to instill a love of traditional Judaism to their American-born children[…]
Since the consequences of intermarriage are so devastating, one must wonder why there is no explicit biblical prohibition. Be that as it may, in coming years watch for the Conservative movement to halakhically legitimize intermarriage[…]
The Talmudim are aware that the prohibition of intermarriage is a product of second temple times. Jubilees 30 and the other works of the Maccabean period mentioned above are the historical background for the Palestinian tradition[…]
Rabbinic society was not much affected by intermarriage. The Palestinian Talmud has a rabbi castigate the Jews of Sepphoris (who, like the ancient Alexandrians, had a well deserved reputation for contumacy and insolence) because many[…]
One of the central characteristics of post-biblical Judaism is its prohibition of intermarriage. A Jew may not marry a non-Jew. From Greco-Roman antiquity to the present day this prohibition has been the subject of much[…]
In 1983, the Reform Movement made the decision to grant any child born of a Jewish father automatic membership in the Jewish People, a policy otherwise known as patrilineal descent. Indeed, the decision of the[…]
Olitzky told me that many in the organized Jewish community are beginning to recognize that they have to reach out to intermarried families…: “Federations are beginning to understand that there’s a ripple effect with regard[…]
Consider this excerpt from the major address given by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, at last month’s biennial of the Reform movement in San Diego. “Incredibly enough … I still[…]
The current consensus in America is that people can fall in love across race, ethnic group, and creed and that nothing should stand in their way. As a result, Jews are justly sensitive to the[…]
