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Federations Are Urged
To Service Intermarried
New York (JTA) — The Council
of Jewish Federations is diving
into the stormy waters of the de-
bate over intermarriage with a
new report urging local federa-
tions to market their services to
intermarried Jewish families.
In its report, the Task Force on
the Intermarried and Jewish Af-
filiation advocates that federa-
tions actively embrace the
intermarried and target services
to this fastest-growing segment
of the Jewish community.
"Serving the intermarried is
now an urgent matter," the re-
port says. "Unless we proceed
with care and deliberate action,
we face the possibility of disen-
franchising a significant segment
of the population, wittingly or un-
wittingly, from Jewish life."
The issue of how the Jewish
community should confront in-
termarriage — whether to accept
or discourage the growing trend
— has prompted heated discus-
sion in recent years among Jew-
ish communal and religious
leaders.
The report of the task force, ti-
tled "Jewish Community Services
to the Intermarried," delineates
a philosophy encouraging feder-
ations to engage the intermarried
in the life of the Jewish commu-
nity.
It is a population until now
largely unaddressed by federa-
tions, which are the Jewish com-
munity's central address for fund
raising for Israel and local and
national social service programs.
The task force advocates that
federations provide "a broadened
array of opportunities to engage
the intermarried in communal
life and community services.
"The intermarried and their
extended families will be a visi-
ble part of the Jewish communi-
ty. They participate in federations
and give to annual campaigns,
and their children take part in
Jewish camp and educational ex-
periences," the report says.
The report urges federation
leaders and staffers to demon-
strate great "sensitivity," "re-
spect" and "understanding" for
the range of needs of intermar-
ried Jews and their spouses.
It reveals that federations, like
many Jewish organizations, are
struggling to catch up with the
realities of the Jewish communi-
ty on the cusp of the 21st centu-
ry — a community that is far
from monolithic and contains a
multiplicity of backgrounds and
attitudes, among the intermar-
ried as well as the in-married.
According to Martin Kraar, ex-
ecutive vice president of CJF,
"this is a new market and a new
reality, and as a result of that,
federations that decide to address
the intermarried must face that
in the way they provide their ser-
vices."
Mr. Kraar said, however, that
CJF is not requiring federations
to devise programming for the in-
termarried, since each must de-
cide the best approach within the
context of its local community cul-
ture.
"This report is intended as a
broad road map rather than a
narrow mandate," he said.
Mr. Kraar contrasted this goal
with that of resettling Jews from
the former Soviet Union, for
which CJF mandated that each
federation contribute resources.
Federation leaders' fear of di-
minished funding from the ever-
shrinking pool of Jewishly
affiliated potential donors is part
The report reprints
the demographic
statistics about
intermarriage from
the CJF 1990
National Jewish
Population Study.
of the motivation for the approach
taken by the task force, ac-
knowledged its chair, Lynn Kor-
da Kroll of New York.
But the group's recommenda-
tions are "just part of a broader
attempt to ensure there will be a
diverse and vibrant Jewish com-
munity in the 21st century," Ko-
rda Kroll said.
The task force was composed
of 42 representatives from local
federations and national agen-
cies, including the American Jew-
ish Committee, Jewish
Community Centers Association
of North America and the reli-
gious movements.
Nearly all the members of the
task force, who themselves are
more deeply involved in commu-
nal life than the average Jew,
have intermarried relatives, ac-
cording to Korda Kroll.
Several are intermarried
themselves, said Korda Kroll —
some to spouses who eventually
converted to Judaism and others
to mates who continue to practice
Christianity.
The point, she said, is that
"this is our community. We can't
turn our back on a whole seg-
ment of the Jewish community."
The debate among the task
force members over the proper
FEDERATIONS page 110