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January 5, 2001/Tevet 17, 5761, Vol. 53, No.14
Letters to the EditorJanuary 5, 2001
Intermarriage dims futureEditor:David R. Frazer's acceptance - along with the majority of the U.S. community, it seems - and approval of intermarriage is epitomized in the last sentence of his letter (Jewish News, Dec. 22): "Judaism has an amazing past and a tremendous future, but our religious leaders must take off their blinders and recognize that we are failing to market the product God gave us to disseminate." I am reminded by that of a statement made a few years ago by French Jewish writer and intellectual Alain Finkielkraut: "Marrying a non-Jew doesn't mean one is abandoning one's tradition. On the contrary, it demonstrates a desire to disseminate the message throughout the world. Those who wish to remain Jews in a world they don't care about are reducing Judaism to something no better than a lobby." In other words, to Finkielkraut it is actually a mitzvah to marry out. What a ludicrous situation. Does anyone really know of Jews marrying out deliberately to spread the principles, tenets and practices of Judaism to a waiting non-Jewish world? The truth is that intermarriage is an almost total disaster for the Jewish community - if only for the reason that only a minority of the children of mixed marriages is being brought up Jewish. I predict that the 2000 National U.S. Jewish survey results, due in a few months time, will show a U.S. Jewish community reduced in numbers - mainly because of intermarriage. Murray Freedman Leeds, UK (Via the Internet) Editor: Vicki Cabot (Open the Door to Inmarriage, Jewish News, Dec. 15) articulated the feelings of many Jews who sit back in amazement as committed Jews disappear. Intermarriage has reached epidemic proportions, and we seem to care less and less. The Jewish community spends very little time trying to understand what it means to be Jewish and how it affects the individual. Sadly, we have forgotten how special it is to be Jewish. Yasher koach for bringing to our attention the devastating reality. Rabbi Chaim Silver Young Israel of Phoenix Phoenix |
