INSIDE: DETROIT/ AFTER DECADES OF LONGING, A CHERISHED TRIP; FAMILY/ A NEW, WEEKLY SECTION FILLED WITH GAMES AND ACTIVITIES. 75¢ 9 TAMMUZ 5755/JULY 7, 1995 How The Other Half Lives What other religions have to say about intermarriage. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR From Russia For Love A West Bloomfield couple travels overseas to adopt. S JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER I ike so many newly mar- ried couples, Jeffrey and Nancy Weinfeld shared the vision of building a amily together. They antici- ated moments of their baby's rst words, first teeth and first teps. Last month, their dreams vere fulfilled. Twice. It happened first in a Russian hospi- Jeffrey and tal where they Nancy Weinfeld relish adopted Ethan, now 4 months parenthood with Ethan and old. Days later Jordan. it happened again in a Russian orphanage, where they adopted 15- month-old Jordan. "The trip was mentally and FROM RUSSIA page 8 here's a strong smell of There isn't much most rabbis incense and a large, agree on today. Israel, of course gold Buddha in the (but don't get into the peace treaties back room. The figure or "Who Is a Jew?"). The impor- has a pencil-thin mous- tance of Jewish education — but tache that twists at the what exactly will be taught? tips, seemingly floating Intermarriage is the exception. like the swirls of in- All three major movements sup- cense that head ever port and encourage the position upward, ever reaching. that Jews marry other Jews. It is Sahn Bul Sunim is sitting on the a religious commandment, a strong floor near the Buddha. He is factor in keeping a marriage hap- dressed modestly — py and together, he always is — and and it is vital for a wears no shoes inside, child's identity. signs of humility. "Statistically, Sahn Bul Sunim children who are (Mountain Buddha) raised in a one-faith is the head of the household do best," Detroit Zen Center said Lena and a man traveling Romanoff, founder his own "spiritual and director of the path." He believes ev- Jewish Converts ery human being is and Interfaith on some kind of"spir- Network, during itual path" and her recent visit to should lead his life ac- Detroit. "Children cordingly: he should who are raised with strive toward kind- nothing feel like ness and bettering the Imam Karoub: Forbidding nothing." world. He should seek intermarriage i s like "removing But like Sahn an obstacle." to improve himself Bul Sunim, many A marriage partner other area religious must, naturally, "be someone on leaders remain rather mystified at this same spiritual path." But Judaism's emphasis on marrying whether he's Christian or Jewish, someone of the same faith. Muslim or another Buddhist is be- 'What I look for are the common side the point. factors — what will uplift and af- "There are no prohibitions firm their values and strengthen against intermarriage in their relationship," said Canon A. Buddhism," Sahn Bul Sunim says. Gordon Okunsanya of the "The way we understand it is that (Episcopal) Cathedral Church of all the major world religions are on St. Paul in Detroit. "Who am I to the correct spiritual path — pro- say 'no' to what God has brought vided they are practiced correct- together?" ly. ahn Bul Sunim was born a "We have different Christian, but early on he be- faiths only because peo- gan questioning his faith. ple are different. Some When he found no answers, people lean toward he started looking into other reli- Judaism, some toward gions, and in his early 20s he em- Christianity. braced Buddhism. "But all religions lead Today, Sahn Bul Sunim heads to the ultimate truth. the Hamtramck-based Zen Center I don't think what where he lives, trains students Christians call 'God' and presides over marriages. He and Buddhists call has united interfaith couples, and `Enlightenment' is any it's not unusual if neither part- different." INTERMARRIAGE page 18 PHOTO BY GLENN TRIES