Interfaith Marriages – Let Conservative rabbis tie interfaith knots

Rabbi Rosenbloom’s statement equally applies to all conservative clergy be it a Rabbi, Imam, Pundit, Pastor, Bishop, Shaman, Gyaniji or any one. The have to hold the fort and it does not matter if the inhabitants jump out of it, but if they think (Is thinking anathema to orthodxy?),  they can keep them in the flock by expanding the boundaries of their forts.

He said, “Reality has overtaken us. Sixty percent of Jews who wed marry someone from another faith. The Conservative movement’s prohibition is ineffective as policy if our goal is to reduce intermarriage. It is counterproductive if we are trying to influence Jewish souls and bring them closer to the Jewish community. It needs to be modified if we are to serve our congregants faithfully.”

Indeed, that has been my call for the last several years.  Here is my note – https://interfaithmarriages.org/2012/06/21/about-interfaith-weddings/

Mike Ghouse
Interfaith marriage officiant.
(214) 325-1916 Text/Talk
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Let Conservative rabbis tie interfaith knots

by Seymour Rosenbloom
April 20, 2016
The Conservative movement’s leadership must drop its ban on Conservative rabbis officiating at interfaith weddings — before it’s too late.

The Rabbinical Assembly’s unequivocal rule is that a Conservative rabbi may not officiate at an intermarriage. But after 42 years as an active rabbi, during which I abided by that prohibition, I now believe it is no longer in the best interests of Conservative Judaism or the Jewish community.

Reality has overtaken us. Sixty percent of Jews who wed marry someone from another faith. The Conservative movement’s prohibition is ineffective as policy if our goal is to reduce intermarriage. It is counterproductive if we are trying to influence Jewish souls and bring them closer to the Jewish community. It needs to be modified if we are to serve our congregants faithfully.

We all want a strong future for our Jewish community. Intermarriage, the argument goes, weakens that future. But that’s not necessarily so.

In most cases of intermarriage, Jewish partners are not abandoning Judaism or rejecting their heritage, family, congregation, or people. They just want to marry the people they love.

Often they want a “Jewish wedding,” which is why they want the officiant to be a rabbi, preferably one with whom they have a relationship. That is why they are so hurt when we refuse.

As they plan their interfaith ceremony, they learn more about the elements of a Jewish wedding. They typically choose to have a huppa, blessings over wine, the seven marriage blessings, a ketuba, and the breaking of the glass. They include these elements not to please their parents but for themselves. They often express surprise at how important these rituals turn out to be for them.

We do not know which interfaith couples will raise their children as Jews. We do not know which of their children — whether their parents raise them as Jews or not — will want to claim their own Jewish identity. We need to recognize that even when two Jews marry, there is no guarantee that their children will be dedicated Jews.

The Conservative movement has approached intermarriage with ambivalence. Rabbis must refuse to be part of intermarriage ceremonies (we’re not even supposed to attend such ceremonies, though many of us do), but after the wedding we open our arms to the newly married couple and invite them to become part of our community.

But those we push away on Saturday night are not always so ready to come back on Sunday morning. It is not easy to get over the initial sting of rejection and the stigma of the ambivalent way we view their marriage.

The issue became personal after I retired. My stepdaughter became engaged to someone who is not Jewish. Initially I thought I would approach one of my Reform colleagues to do the ceremony. But the couple wanted me to marry them, not a stranger. They wanted the ceremony to be as Jewish as possible. The religious symbolism would be exclusively Jewish, and I would be the only clergy officiating.

So I agreed. Looking back, I can’t believe I even gave it a second thought. Since then, I have agreed to do similar ceremonies for people dear to me, out of a sense of friendship, loyalty, and love. I have been touched by their gratitude for my presence as a rabbi, blessing their most emotionally intimate moment in life and affirming the promise of their place in the Jewish community.

We can no longer stand on the sidelines, piously refusing to involve ourselves in intermarriage ceremonies. If we extend ourselves with acceptance, if we affirm the legitimacy of the loving choices people make by agreeing to be part of their ceremonies, more couples would be inclined to seek the spiritual fulfillment that comes from Jewish commitment.

At the very least, a superfluous impediment to couples’ involvement in our Conservative Jewish houses of worship would be removed.

Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom recently retired after 36 years as religious leader of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park, Pa. He is now president of the Jewish Social Policy Action Network. This essay was provided by JTA.

Courtesy New Jersey Jewish News