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May 28, 1999/13 Sivan 5759, Vol. 51, No.35
Push to reach converts revives debate
JULIA GOLDMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Gary Tobin wants American Jews to put out the welcome mat to would-be converts. Reviving a decades-old debate over how to build a vibrant and populous Jewish community, the prominent demographer and frequent consultant to major Jewish organizations is proposing the creation of a conversion initiative aimed at, but not limited to, the non-Jewish spouses and children of mixed marriages and people with some Jewish heritage.
According to the proposal laid out in Tobin's new book, "Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community," the effort to bring in millions of new Jews from all religious and ethnic backgrounds would force the Jewish community as a whole to examine, expand and fortify "all elements of the culture," from education to ritual practice.
Proactive conversion is "not a magic bullet to save Judaism," but part of an overall strategy to strengthen the Jewish community, Tobin said at a conference he convened last week in New York to introduce his idea. "If Judaism institutionally, communally, ideologically is strong and powerful, others will choose to join. The question is, are we prepared to let them?"
For decades American Jews have been wrestling with this very question. While some propose reaching out to unaffiliated Jews and non-Jews, others, while not against such efforts, think the focus - and resources - should be "inreach" to already committed Jews. With a declining Jewish population and an intermarriage rate of somewhere near 50 percent, the question has become particularly urgent.
"Since 1945, the American population has doubled, but the Jewish population in the United States has remained the same" - at about 5.5 million - said Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, the director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, which promotes national Jewish education and communal celebrations. Due to a low Jewish birthrate and assimilation, "in just two generations, two out of every three Jews will disappear," Buchwald warned at the conference.
"Our children are drowning," he said, comparing the Jewish community to a sinking ship. But he balked at the suggestion that "we throw a life preserver to the gentiles." Given these circumstances, he said, "it is immoral to expend Jew- ish resources trying to convince a gentile to put on a kippah (prayer cap)."
John Ruskay, chief operating officer of UJA-Federation of New York, also advocated fortifying Judaism from within. Communal resources should be funneled to strengthening the Jewish infrastructure, enriching formal and informal education for Jewish youth, engaging "the best and the brightest" as Jewish professionals and transforming "collective spaces" - synagogues, community centers and summer camps - into compelling and inspiring communities, he said.
Tobin's multibillion-dollar plan includes the creation of a National Center for Jewish Inclusion to develop new ways to train rabbis and lay people for outreach to would-be Jews. But cost, Tobin said, should not pose an obstacle for the Jewish community, which "is sitting on top of tens of billions of dollars."
In promoting outreach and conversion, Tobin believes that the "real way for Jews to ultimately integrate into society" is for the community to be composed of black, Asian and Hispanic Jews. Apparently sharing that view, filmmaker Steven Spielberg is funding a study of Asian, Hispanic and black Jews.
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