THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, January 26, 1919 Study 'Urges Outreach Programs to Halt Intermarriage ▪ • - . • l.. Oik NEW YORK — The spi- raling rate of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews in the United States could seriously diminish the American Jewish - commu- nity, according to a report released by the American Jewish Committee. The re , port urged Jewish families . and communal groups to combat this trend by de- veloping a variety of new and meaningful outreach programs to intemarried couples. Titled "Intermarriage and the Jewish Future," the publication _presented the results of a three-year study of the dynamics of inter- marriage and of the rela- tionships of intermarried men and women to Jews and Judaism. Respondents • in- cluded 446 intermarried couples in Cleveland, Dal- las, Long Island, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Fran- cisco and Westchester County. A major thrust of the report's recom- mendations to alleviate the threat of assimilation through intermarriage was to concentrate on converting the non- Jewish spouse, and to welcome him or her into the Jewish community whether or not conver- sion actually took place. Specific suggestions in- cluded: • Develop formal and in- formal programs of out- reach to the intermarried. positive • Provide Jewish experiences and in- creased exposure that might -lead to greater in- volvement. • Focus on Jewish educa- tion, to enable both Jewish- and non-Jewish spouses to learn- more about Jewish religious and cultural tradi- tion, and to help them make their family life and the education of their children .consistently and deeply Jewish-oriented. Yehuda Rosenman of the AJCommittee Community Affairs Department ex- plained that the emphasis of the three-year-study — the effect of intermarriage on the continuity of the Jewish people — reflected a deep concern :within the Jewish community. He pointed out that the rate of intermar- riage had risen from "well below 10 percent in the first six decades of this century to 17.4 percent in the period 1961-65, and 31.7 percent in the five years 1966-72." This trend, combined with the experience of the Nazi Holocaust, which destroyed one-third of the Jewish people, and the current low birthrate among Jewish couples, has raised questions as to whether the American Jewish community can maintain its present via- bility, he said. He cited the predictions of some experts that a century from now the Jewish population in the United ,States will have dwin- dled, depending_ on var- ious trends, from its cur- rent figure of close to six million to somewhere be- tween 10,000 and 950,000 persons. Rosenman stressed the fact that the Jewish fear of assimilation stemmed "not from negative attitudes, such as prejudice or in- tolerance of non-Jews, but rather from the positive de- sire to maintain the specific Jewish values that have enabled the Jewish people' to make a unique contribu- tion to the general society." The research by D. Egon Mayer of Brooklyn College was conducted by means of detailed questionnaires and in-depth interviews on five questions: • "Does intermarriage lead to a diminishing iden- tification with Judaism and the Jewish community on the part of the Jewish spouse?" • "Does it promote con- flict between marriage partners?" • "Does it cause aliena- tion between the Jewish spouse and his or her par- ents, siblings, extended family?" • How do non-Jewish spotthes feel about the in- troduction of Jewish con- tent into their family life and about efforts to provide Jewish acculturation for their children?" • "What is the effect on Jewish commitment where the born-gentile spouse has converted to Judaism?" The respondents were questioned on a_ wide- ranging series of sub- jects, including their de- nominational back- grounds and the inten- siveness of their religious training and education; their parents' attitudes toward friendship, dat- ing and marriage be- tween Jews and gentiles; the extent to which differ- ing religious background engendered conflict con- cerning such subjects as the couple's lifestyle, child-rearing, relation- ships with parents and extended families; the couple's religious iden- tification and their in- volvement with synagogue or Jewish organizational life; the extent of Jewish prac-, tices or ritual obser- vances in the home; and religious education of the children. Fully half the research questions dealt with the way a couple's lifestyle changes if and when the born-gentile partner con- verted to Judaism. More than 21 percent of the born-gentile respondents in the sample had converted to Judaism by the time of the study. In comparing and con- trasting different types of marriage involving Jews, the study employed three terms: conversionary mar- riage, for one in which the born-gentile partner con- verted to. Judaism; mixed marriage, for one in which conversion did not take place; and endogamous marriage, for one in which both partners were Jewish. Dr. Mayer, in presenting a summary of his findings at a news conference, declared that "the data clearly indi- cate that, mixed marriage will by and large lead to as- similation." "Mixed marriages are less Jewish -on every score than endogamous marriages," he said, and added, "Children of most mixed marriages are raised without any reli- gious or cultural identity, and most parents in mixed marriages, both Jewish and non-Jewish, also lack a cleat religious identity." On the other hand, he stated, "conversionary mar- riages scored highest in every aspect of Jewish atti- tudes and Jewish behavior, particularly with regard to affiliation with a synagogue, religious prac- tice and providing Jewish education for the children." "In some ways," he main- tained, "there is more rea- son for optimism about Jewish continuity in families where the born- gentile spouse has 'con- verted to Judaism than there is in 'the typical endogamous family." - The degree of Jewishness that is introduced and maintained in an intermar- ried family is directly re- lated to the extent of Jewish background, knowledge, and experience of the Jewish partner, he said. "Those who had a positive and consistent Jewish ex- perience in their ,parents' homes indicated a greater degree of Jewish identify and commitment, and ac- counted for the greatest number of conversions of their non-Jewish spouses to Judaims," he stated. "Lack of Jewish iden- tity and practices in in- termarried families is not due primarily to pres- sures from non-Jewish spouses, most - of whom do not have a significant identity with the religion of their birth." Dr. Mayer • cautioned, however, that despite this lack of religious identifica- tion, the , non-Jewish spouses "may not necessar- ily be open to conversion to Judaism for a variety of rea- sons — lack of religious feel- ing, lack of pressure to con- vert, reticence on the part of WASHINGTON (JTA) — firmative action, one cannot the Jewish spouse, among Rabbi-Bernard Rosensweig, dismiss these fears as il- others." Dr. Mayer placed a large president of the, Rabbinical legitimate." an- degree of responsibility on Rosensweig Council of. America, told several hundred delegates nounced the appoint- the Jewish partners in in- Orthodox Leader Fears Effects of ERA - on Jewry at a special Torah conven- tion in Washington that "the present form of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) represents a poten- tial danger to the entire religious community of the United States." Judaism, Orthodox Rosensweig stated, does not "support any form of dis- criminatory practice against women. We simply have reasonable fears that the ERA Amendment may open up a Pandora's box of unforeseeable discrimina- tion against the religious practices and principles of major segments of our society." One of the fears, he said, is that many religious schools "which resist the integration of sexes may be liable to lose their tax- exempt status and other- governmental grants. Con- sidering recent rulings of various governmental agencies in the areas of af- ment of a blue ribbon panel headed by Rabbis Sol Roth and Gilbert Klaperman with in- structions to study the problein in all its ramifi- cations and to submit recommendations to the Rabbinical Council's na tional convention in June: It was learned, mean- while, that a delegation from the council will meet with Congressmen in Wash- ington to pi-opose amend- ments to 'protect the reli- gious rights of women and to maintain religious schools in their present form. Bias Is Banned VIENNA (JTA) — The Austrian Court has con- firmed a ban of an issue of the right wing "National Zeitung" which included an article entitled "The 20th Century Fraud: The End of the Six-Million Lie." termarried couples, who, he said, "have an ambivalent and unclear sense of their Jewishness." "They are lacking in Jewish knowledge and skills, and therefore are often incapable of transmit- ting Jewishness to their children," he declared. In regard to the interper- sonal relationships of daily life, Dr. Mayer reported that, according to his sur- vey, differences in religious backgrounds did not seem to contribute to misun- derstandings or conflict situations in he home, nor - did relationships with par- ents and in-laws seem to be exacerbated by intermar- riage. 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