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S hould rabbis officiate at mixed
marriages?
David Belin of Des Moines,
who chairs the Commission on Reform
Jewish Outreach, calls this the most
divisive issue on the agenda of the Re-
form movement." The Central Confer-
ence of American Rabbis, the rabbinical
body of Reform Judaism, has declared
its opposition to participation by its
members "in any ceremony which sol-
emnizes a mixed marriage," while
acknowledging the freedom of every
rabbi to hold divergent interpretations
of Jewish tradition."
Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler,
president of the Union of American He-
brew Congregations, the central body of
Reform Judaism, supports this stance,
asserting: "Intermarriage represents a
potential drain on the numeric strength
of the Jewish people and on its inner
commitment. Whether I like it or not,
my officiation would be seen as a seal of
approval and would therefore become
Dr. Winer, a sociologist, is senior rabbi of
Temple Beth David in Commack, N.Y. and
project director of the Research Task Force
for the Future of Reform Judaism. This
article originally appeared in "Reform
Judaism."
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The Reform Movement Wrestles
With The Issue Of Intermarriage
MARK WINER
MARK'S
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encouraging of intermarriage. If I par--
ticipate, I give license to those who say,
`Well, the rabbis are officiating, why in
heaven's name is there anything wrong
with my intermarrying?' "
Most rabbis justify their refusal to
-officiate at interfaith weddings by argu-
ing that the Jewish idea of marriage is
that of a covenant between two Jews.
Rabbi Haskell Bernat of Miami explains
the rabbi's role: "Contrary to what is
often thought, the rabbi neither confers
God's blessings on the bride and groom
nor does the rabbi 'marry' the couple. As
a m'sader kiddushin, the rabbi serves as
a witness on behalf of the Jewish people.
Symbolically, the rabbi is the Jewish
people at the ceremony, and through the
rabbi we enter into the covenant with
the bride and groom."
But some rabbis and many lay
people believe that the normative rab-
binic stance is out of touch with modern
realities. Alfred Miller of Montreal is
among those who urge rabbis to perform
mixed marriages. He says: "It is im-
possible to stress too strongly how bitter
the Jew feels when the rabbi refuses to
marry him. He feels he is being rejected
by the Jewish people, leaving a scar
from which he rarely recovers. If a reli-
gious marriage is refused, it does not
stop the couple from getting married —
Continued on Page 32
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judgment involved in the
case.
On the other hand, we
have to assume that Mr. Pol-
lard and his wife were deeply
touched by the constant
danger to Israel's securi-
tyxPerhaps (the Pollards)
were motivated by the fact
that America conducts exten-
sive spying operations upon
Israel and was even being de-
liberately misleading con-
cerning what data it actually
released to Israel.
From Israel's standpoint,
the treasury of intelligence
information revealed by the
Pollards was worth the risk,
or so the government be-
lievedx
In any case, I am convinced
that the massive punishment
imposed upon Jonathan Pol-
lard, based upon such
mitigating circumstnces, was
completely unfair. In a sense,
there appears to be a "Rosen-
berg Case" psychology in-
volved, and he is punished
accordingly. There is also a
question whether the influ-
ence of State Department
Arabists and powerful gov-
ernment figures of partial
Jewish extraction (as Caspar
Weinberger) worked against
the Pollards in this respect.
They were determined to
make an ugly example of the
Pollards, regardless of the
dictates of justice and fair
play.
Although what the Pollards
did cannot be condoned,
nonetheless, I do feel that
Jonathan and Ann Pollard
deserve the sympathetic
understanding of the Ameri-
can Jewish Community.
Dr. Lary R. Berkower
Southfield
The Jewish News has re-
ported extensively on the Pol-
lard affair. Following a read-
ing of Wolf Blitzer's recent
series of articles, some obser-
vations seem in order,
namely: (1) Neither Jonathan
Pollard nor his wife were
motivated by money to help
Israel; (2) Pollard's masters,
Mr. Eitan and others, antici-
pated that Pollard would be
exposed as a spy; (3) The lat-
ter expectation became a
self-fulfilling prophecy by
encouraging Pollard to expose
himself excessively and
dangerously to supply the re-
quested information; (4) Pol-
lard's masters - used money as
a vehicle, firstly, to both re-
ward and control Pollard, and
secondly, to betray him after
his arrest by denigrating his
motivation to help Israel.
Eventually, I believe, a
deal will be worked out be-
tween the United States and
Israel in which Pollard and
his wife — if still alive —
will be deported to Israel in
exchange for something of
value which Israel can pro-
vide this country. In the
meantime, I agree with
David Holzel's view, in his
March 20 article, that the
Jewish community has a
moral obligation to help
Jonathan Pollard and his
wife. To do less is unworthy
of a people whose support of
Israel is based on lessons
learned from the past.
Irving Warshawsky
West Bloomfield
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