Intermarriage 'threatens UK Jewry'

BBC News ^ | 20 March, 2005 | Martha Dixon

[muawiyah]

An Italian marrying a Swede is a much bigger deal than you can imagine. It is, after all, a big deal, particularly when the kids come along and some of them tan and some of them burn ~ can definitely put a kink in family wa.

Then there's the part where the Italian wants the fish cooked.

[after dark]

Are Jews matriarchal?

I mean doesn't your Jewishness depend on whether your mother is Jewish.

If the father is Jewish and the mother is not then the children will not be considered Jewish.

Where does conversion fit into all this?

[twippo]

Thanks. Very informative.

[dalight]

I think it takes years. Funny how some things haunt you.

Its a tradition not to evangelize among Jews so I don't know that the Reform folks are really doing all that much to reach out, but alot of the kids I know from mixed families are finding their own ways back. Some in Messianic groups, others Orthodox, and some back to Reform temples.

Funniest thing, cause if you ask them they will say its something they never planned.

These are not twenty somethings, but instead adults, 30's, 40's and 50's.

[GaryMontana]

I have one important question -- Why remain Jewish? Why have Jewish children? Why pass on the faith?

I am not being mean, nasty, or arrogant. My heritage is Jewish, I live in Montana -- but what is so important about being Jewish?

When I was younger it was Jewish kids that picked on me. When I was younger I went to Hebrew school -- only to learn that what they taught there was a watered down form of a religion I could pick and choose what I wanted.

Then when I tried to be religious (orthodox) I found that those who gave the most money were the most celebrated -- at a Sephardi synagogue they actually bid on who got to read from the Torah. In Ashkenazi synagogues if you get called up you are supposed to make a huge contribution -- when is it about money ? MONEY MONEY MONEY -- one fund raising event after another. I look at all of the corruption in New Square, all the false kosher markings by rabbis taking bribes for items not kosher -- and than in Kansas City a Orthodox rabbi has to leave BIAV Synagogue due to the fact that hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing. The orthodox community Seattle covers up when a rabbi is caught with several young girls. Another Rabbi takes money from the local Hebrew school and is bribed with over $250,000 so that he won't take the community to a Jewish court in New York and the Seattle Orthodox community does not want this information to get public due to the fact that this would embarrass them and they do not want the rest of the world to know that there is a huge amount of corruption in the Orthodox Jewish community!
I can go on and on and on == why should I look up to these people -- my wolf hybrid has more morals than these people.
Covering things up only makes things WORSE!

[wideminded]

My great-grandfather was a rabbi in England.

His children were all observant Jews.

The next generation were brought up with Jewish customs, but ended up being mostly non-observant. At least one person in this generation converted and married a Christian.

When discussing this topic with one of my cousins, who would be the third generation after the rabbi, she said that she had only been to a synagogue once in her life.

[sofaman]

and there's a burgeoning Ba'al Teshuva movement in the Orthodox community as evidenced by Ohr Sameach and Aish Hatorah which are specifically targeted to younger Jews...I have no knowledge of the Hasidic community, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing is happening there....

[onedoug]

Odd juxtaposition of blood and values in this.

[Brilliant]

The article doesn't mention it, but no doubt it's the Christians and the atheists who Jews tend to marry, when they marry out of the faith. I'd be interested to see what portion of them marry Muslims.

[Torie]

The intermarriage rate is high in the US as well. I suspect in a couple of generations, a majority of those who consider themselves Jews will be Orthodox.

[GladesGuru]

"Teaching Hebrew to converts at the Maidenhead synagogue, Rabbi Romain explained that he thought Jews needed to accept and embrace Britain's multicultural make-up."

I'll pass on the synagogue name, too easy. But the Rabbi sounds like he has the premises of a Deformed Rabbi. Oops! - better make that 'Reformed' Rabbi.

I'm curious as to whether he allows homosexuals to be counted towards a minyan. And there is no use wondering if he is a member of Jews for Protection of Firearms Ownership, is there?

[twippo]

Ouch. If it's any consolation, there's plenty of materialism in "Christendom" as well. Just look at these "name it and claim it" TV preachers sometime.

[Tribune7]

What's all this I hear about U.K. jewelry?

[twippo]

Muslim men, IIRC, are permitted to marry Jewish women, but Muslim women can't marry outside the faith. It would be a challenge. The Muslim culture is so male-dominated compared to the Jewish culture.

[dalight]

Well. First and foremost, this has to be a choice you make for yourself. Mostly, because you are called by God to come home. And if you find Jews who are lost, you must help them home if they care to come along.

All sorts of "religious" people get lost in foolishness and even in disgrace. All churches raise money continuously. A Catholic parish has multiple fund raisers often involving gambling and beer. These "festivals" are alot of fun, but you could look at them really negatively if you want to. I know alot of fundamentalist Christians that are completely appalled by these "events."

Anyway, this isn't about this Rabbi or that, its about you and your connection to God. Thats what you need to work out. There are good congregations and bad in any religion, you just have to seek them out. Moses was so upset with the Jews he just led out of Egypt that he broke the tablets he was bringing down from from the mountain. You are not the first to be frustrated with Jews messing up. Its not fair to tar the whole with the mistakes of a few, or a bunch. Remember Jim Bakker, or Jimmy Swaggart, religion money and foolishness are not new.

As far as being picked on, this is all too common, its something we share with our ancestors throughout time it seems. The Romans really picked on the Jews between 71 and 131 AD, lots of other folks have done alot of picking too. Hitler being of recent memory, but many more stand in line to pick on the Jews. Being a Jew isn't easy.

But thats not what its about, its about God and if God calls you to him as a Jew what are you going to do?

Thats the question you have to ask.

Don't tolerate corruption. Don't give into despair. Speak out where it matters. Find God where ever you find God. Thats good enough.

[Alouette]

You have anger issues.

[Aznar5]

[Celtjew Libertarian]

What I don't quite understand is, if your religion is so important to you, how could you come to marry someone who was not a believer?

Because you fall in love.

It would've been that way for me, except she had been thinking about converting, even before we met.

[twippo]

Who is that guy?