UP FRONT
Attitudes Toward Intermarriage
Handicap Communities, Groups
DEBRA NUSSBAUM
Special to The Jewish News
A
s communities across
the country begin to
grapple with the
implications of skyrocketing
intermarriage rates, pro-
gram directors are finding
that their greatest obstacles
are attitudes - within their
own organizations and
communities.
The process of formulating
policy and implementing
programs to deal with
intermarriage is slow large-
ly because it is an extremely
sensitive subject, according
to outreach professionals.
"Most federations do not
have a clearly articulated
position on intermarriage
other than saying 'let's pre-
tend it isn't there,' " said
Bert Goldberg, executive di-
rector of the Association of
Jewish Family and Chil-
drens Agencies, speaking at
the 1990 Conference on Jew-
ish Intermarriage, Conver-
sion and Outreach.
The conference, held at
Hunter College and
Roosevelt House in New
York Dec. 2-4, attracted
some 140 outreach and edu-
cation professionals and
rabbis from 25 states. It was
twice as many as attended
last year's inaugural event.
"We hit a very raw nerve
at a time when communities
are finally realizing that
intermarriage is not some-
thing just to talk about in
hushed tones and wring our
hands about," said Professor
Egon Mayer, senior research
fellow at the Center for Jew-
ish Studies at the City Uni-
versity of New York
graduate school and the
principal organizer and
sponsor of the conference.
The other sponsors were
the Jewish Outreach In-
stitute and the Nathan
Cummings Foundation.
Speakers called for coop-
eration between all
segments of the Jewish
world to address the prob-
lem, but acknowledged that
a cohesive approach will not
easily be formulated in the
very fragmented and highly
politicized world of Jewish
organizational life.
Jewish organizations, they
said, are too often concerned
about their "turf" to take
advantage of the benefits of
working together on a com-
munity-wide scale.
"We need to begin dia-
logue," declared Lydia
Kukoff, director of the
Commission on Reform Jew-
ish Outreach, "and
transform friction into a
division of labor.
"At a certain point it
becomes counter-productive
to continue this very uneasy
alliance which exists" bet-
ween organizations, "and
makes us look at each other
with an element of distrust,"
she said.
The Commission on
Reform Jewish Outreach is
part of the Union of Ameri-
can Hebrew Congregations
and the Central Conference
of American Rabbis.
The goal, say these ex-
perts, is to encourage inter-
married couples to make
Jewish choices for them-
selves and for their children,
choices which could, though
don't necessarily need, to
lead to conversion.
A parallel goal is to create
a new, more welcoming en-
vironment for intermarried
families and converts in the
Jewish community.
Though it is a religious
obligation to accept converts
into the community as whol-
ly as any other Jew, the real-
Artwork from the Houston Chronicle by Bruce Oren. Copyright
ity is often quite different,
research has shown.
Not only do intermarried
couples feel excluded, but
conversionary couples
"report feeling stigmatized,
or less than fully accepted
even after conversion," ac-
cording to a report published
by the Task Force on Jewish
Continuity, a committee
created last year by the
United Jewish Federation of
MetroWest, in northern New
Jersey.
The report also said that
"couples who do seriously
explore conversion look upon
it as an individual journey,
1989. Houston Chronicle. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
which is fostered by welcom-
ing attitudes in the com-
munity."
MetroWest's Committee
on Outreach to Intermarried
Families, which grew out of
the Task Force's recommen-
dations, began planning
programs early this year,
and will soon implement an
in- depth program called
"Stepping Stones . . . to a
Jewish Me," which was
started five years ago in
Denver.
And while "conversion is
not a goal, we applaud it if it
happens," said Saundra
Heller, director of Outreach.
ROUND UP
Messianic Times
Debuts In Canada
Toronto (JTA) — The Mes-
sianic Times, a newspaper
produced for Evangelical
Christians and Jews who
believe in Jesus, made its
debut in Toronto last month,
thanks to a low-interest loan
from the Ontario govern-
ment.
The paper is primarily
targeted toward Soviet Jew-
ish immigrants, according to
Rabbi Yoseph Zaltzman,
head of Toronto's Soviet
Jewish community. Rabbi
Zaltzman said the paper is
taking advantage of the fact
that Soviet Jews know little
about mainstream Judaism
and are vulnerable to mis-
sionary groups.
The 16-page paper is
published by Zev Isaacs, who
said it will appear four times
a year and will be circulated
only by paid subscription.
The first issue's print run
consisted of 22,000 copies,
with free samples mailed to
President George Bush and
Israel's Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Shamir.
The newspaper claimed 30
congregations of Jesus-
believing Jews now operate
in Israel.
Mr. Isaacs obtained a
cheap loan from the provin-
cial government's Youth
Venture Loan program,
which was set up to help
young entrepreneurs create
their own businesses, to
publish the paper.
Venture Spokesman Pat
Hamilton said, "It's unfor-
tunate this has offended the
Jewish community, but the
government's position is
that applicants must meet
guidelines and this business
did."
Ms. Hamilton said that a
denial of the loan would
have made the government
liable to a law suit based on
religious discrimination.
Israeli Planes
Fly To Moscow
Tel Aviv — The Jewish
Agency for Israel last week
dispatched two planes filled
with food for children in the
Soviet Union.
Leaving from Ben Gurion
Airport on its way to
Shramytov Airport in
Moscow, the first plane car-
ried five tons of fruits and
vegetables. After discharg-
ing its cargo, it proceeded to
Bucharest, where Soviet
immigrants boarded the air-
craft for its return flight to
Israel.
The second plane also
landed in Shramytov Air-
port, stopping on its way
home to pick up immigrants
from Warsaw.
Reform Project
Aids The Hungry
New York (JTA) — The
count is in on the first High
Holy Day Hunger Project,
sponsored by the Religious
Action Center of Reform
Judaism, the first drive of its
kind coordinated on a na-
tional level.
The project, conducted by
Reform congregations
throughout the country,
netted more than 100 tons of
food for the hungry and
homeless. Food was present-
ed to anti-hunger groups
nationwide.
The largest collection by a
single congregation, 27,100
pounds of food, was present-
ed by Temple Emanuel in
Beverly Hills.
"One of the messages of
the holidays is that God is
not satisfied with the ritual
observance alone," said
Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, as-
sociate director of the Wash-
ington-based Religious Ac-
tion Center. "At a time
when 32 million Americans
live below the poverty line,
we Jews are enjoined by the
prophet Isaiah to go outside
of ourselves and help those
around us."
Kosher Overseers
Publish Guide
Malibu, Calif. — Kosher
Overseers Association of
America has just published a
1990-91 directory, listing
kosher restaurants
throughout the world.
Global Kosher, a 288-page
volume, also features turn-
of-the-century photographs
and illustrations, such as an
Moses' Matzah Machine
1845 drawing of Moses' Mat-
zah Machine from Cohen's
Bakery in New York. Moses
Cohen fed the mechanism
with lumps of dough, which
were then deposited onto a
moving belt conveyor, ready
for baking in the brick hear-
th oven.
Articles include "The
World's First Kosher Res-
t a ur a nt " and "Glatt,
Glatter, Glattest: Who Is the
Kosherest of Them All?"
For information, contact
Pangloss Press, P.O. Box
4071, Malibu, Calif., 90265.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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