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Are intermarried couples hopeless? By Shmuel Rosner It is the difference between the optimist and the fatalist - or between the delusional and the realist. Should one invest more in the intermarried as to strengthen their Jewish identity? Yesterday, I wrote about the new study by Prof. Steven Cohen. Bottom line: We are developing into two distinct populations - the in-married and the intermarried. The identity chasm between in-married and intermarried is wide, which suggests the imagery of "two Jewries." Intermarriage constitutes the greatest single threat to Jewish continuity today. Symptom I also mentioned the cover letter, written by rabbi by Rabbi Irving Greenberg, President of the < Advertisement a href="http://www.jewishlife.org/index.html" target="_blank">Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, the sponsor of this new study. But now its time to quote some more from this letter: "Let it be clear. We do not believe that the act of intermarriage has an inexorable, determined assimilationist outcome. We (at JLN) believe that intermarriage is a symptom more than a cause. In an open society, it cannot be directly fought ? although the value of in-marriage can be upheld. Primarily, Jewish life must be so enriched and Jews offered so much participation in vital education and living experiences that they will prefer in-marriage and if they fall in love with a non-Jew they will encourage conversion or, at least, will choose to raise their children Jewishly ... education, broadly defined and mediated through family and community, has become the only way to motivate people to choose Jewish identity..." Rabbi Greenberg, with whom I also spoke a couple of days ago, would like people to understand Cohen?s study in a very specific way. He doesn?t "give up" on the intermarried (Cohen previously expressed some doubts about the feasibility of investment in this sector) but rather believe that Jewish institutions need to try and renew their Jewish identity. Thus, he is not focusing his attention on the more "juicy" part of the study ? the one dealing with the "growing gap" ? but rather on the part dealing with the transformational power of Jewish education. Education "The results are in: Jewish education works" - writes Cohen. Almost all forms of Jewish education diminish the frequency of intermarriage and elevate adult Jewish engagement. And the more Jewish experiences one has, the better the chances he will remain within the tent. Cohen explains: Someone who went to a supplementary school that met twice a week into adolescence, went to Israel, and attended a Jewish camp can be compared with someone with the same background with no such experiences. The chances that the former would marry a Jewish spouse would increase by 14 percentage points (comparable to reducing the intermarriage rate from 47 percent to 33 percent). How does he calculate this? In the study he estimates that day school attendance reduces intermarriage by 14 percentage points. The impact of attendance at supplementary school more than once a week is 2 points if continued for more than 6 years; each informal education experience (camping, youth groups, or Israel travel in one's youth) reduces intermarriage by 4 percentage points. The shortcomings of Jewish education, Cohen writes, rest not so much with an inability to influence participants as with an inability to attract participants. This is where Greenberg sees hope: These results suggest that if we persist and expand the availability of great Jewish experiences we can reverse the demographic/cultural decline of Jewry. Disagreement Cohen's tone is sobering and pessimistic. Convincing young Jews to marry within the tribe is crucial. "Only conversion substantially improves the chances that today's intermarried couples will have Jewish grandchildren in two generations," writes Cohen. But there's a "long-term decline in conversion rates, lasting over half a century" that "is smooth and steady." Greenberg chooses to see the full half of the glass. He just doesn't believe that asking people not to marry 98 percent of the population can provide for better results. Jews will keep finding non-Jewish spouses and Jewish organizations better find ways to incorporate these couples into the tribe. "We need urgent attention to try to find programs that work in this sub-community," he writes. It is more than just minor disagreement. It is the difference between the optimist and the fatalist - or between the delusional and the realist. The next study that JLN will publish is one that supports the more optimistic view: Intermarried couples in the Boston area show a surprisingly high percentage of Jewish identity. Whether this one study can prove Greenberg's point will be a subject for further debate. More on this subject on Rosner's Domain: The in-married Jewish people, the intermarried Jewish people A dialog with Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman on inter-marriages and conversion A dialog with Edmund Case, president and publisher of InterfaithFamily.com On another study by Cohen: Jewish people? What Jewish people? Bookmark to del.icio.us   My son, the martyr Mother of J'lem attack victim backs 'political use' of son's murder. Keeping the faith Inter-faith couples married in a Jewish ceremony are likely to raise their kids Jewish.   1.   Jewish education sucks 02:56  |  Y. Ellis 29/12/06   2.   delusional and realist 02:57  |  yoram koch 29/12/06   3.   marry and have sex with whoever you like! 03:39  |  cristina 29/12/06   4.   shidduch process dismal 04:26  |  Yosi 29/12/06   5.   33 STUDDED WITH ERRORS, AND TOTAL NONSENSE 10:41  |  paul harris 29/12/06   6.   Even dogs do it . . . . 10:59  |  revoltop 29/12/06   7.   Cristina, I Take It Then... 11:14  |  Yosemite Sam 29/12/06   8.   Intermarried couples are the best 11:19  |  Stephen Murray 29/12/06   9.   I condone Mixed-marriages 12:11  |  Jean-Paul Cohen 29/12/06   10.   #5 and #7 12:15  |  cristina 29/12/06   11.   #8 A VAIN HOPE MURRAY , EVEN THE USSR COULDNT DO IT 12:17  |  paul harris 29/12/06   12.   #10 AND WHAT HAS THTA TO DO WITH THE PRICE OF FISH CRISTINA 12:34  |  paul harris 29/12/06   13.   Stephen Murray n atheism 12:44  |  Anubhav 29/12/06   14.   the mixed monkey 12:47  |  Wondering 29/12/06   15.   #12 13:04  |  cristina 29/12/06   16.   Evolving Jewish Nation 13:08  |  Alicia 29/12/06   17.   Is Shmuel Rosner hopeless racial engineer? 13:21  |  zmogus 29/12/06   18.   hope, not hopeless 13:26  |  jethro 29/12/06   19.   Intermarriage Irrelevant 13:42  |  asa 29/12/06   20.   Anubhav is wrong . . . . 13:44  |  revoltop 29/12/06   21.   #5 paul harris to Christina. 13:53  |  zmogus 29/12/06   22.   #13: Anubhav: I agree 14:00  |  Stephen Murray 29/12/06   23.   Love Conquers All! 14:20  |  Victor Smolinsky 29/12/06   24.   Polarisation 14:40  |  Joseph 29/12/06   25.   Anubhav #17 14:41  |  jerrym 29/12/06   26.   Reply to Ellis #1 14:43  |  Joe 29/12/06   27.   reply to #3 Christina 14:50  |  Joe 29/12/06   28.   #9 Jean-Paul Cohen and cosmic fascism 14:50  |  zmogus 29/12/06   29.   holocaust survivors 15:00  |  David R 29/12/06   30.   Shmuel Rosner the Opinionator 15:28  |  Chaim Gorenstein 29/12/06   31.   Intermarriage destroys 15:31  |  rich 29/12/06   32.   it`s all priorities 15:44  |  Robi Dar 29/12/06   33.   stop with the "racist" propaganda 15:45  |  Eli Katz 29/12/06   34.   some people forget how small we are 15:49  |  Terry Abrahms 29/12/06   35.   Greenberg is right 15:56  |  Uri B 29/12/06   36.   the racism debate 15:59  |  M. Gillis 29/12/06   37.   love conquers all???!!! 16:11  |  Peter N. 29/12/06   38.   To the disapointed Gorenstein 16:15  |  Benny 29/12/06   39.   Rosner a reporter, and this is news 16:27  |  Nancy Lintzer 29/12/06   40.   Religion has failed? resp. to Murray 16:34  |  Misha 29/12/06   41.   lost to assimilation 16:38  |  Noam 29/12/06   42.   Intermarriage can actually be more effective. 16:46  |  SR 29/12/06   43.   imagine a wedding with only Jews??? 16:55  |  yoram koch 29/12/06   44.   Stephen Murray - Scientology 16:56  |  Jack 29/12/06   45.   To asa: Jews haven`t disappeared? 16:57  |  Wendy 29/12/06   46.   to cristina (#2) 17:04  |  Noam 29/12/06   47.   Moses married a non-Jew 17:29  |  Yehuda 29/12/06   48.   Shocking responses to Rosner article 19:57  |  Michael Schwab 29/12/06   49.   Intermarriage and the kids 20:09  |  charles 29/12/06   50.   Love Conquers All! 20:20  |  Bruce 29/12/06   51.   A shame 20:41  |  aa 29/12/06   52.   An intermarried couple does not help the Jewish People 22:06  |  Meir Weinstein 29/12/06   53.   Cristina Is Jail Bait! 22:06  |  Yosemite Sam 29/12/06   54.   sweet but hopeless 22:22  |  nyapikores 29/12/06   55.   is it rasicm? 23:15  |  kupchack 29/12/06   56.   what`s at stake 23:16  |  M. Gillis 29/12/06   57.   mixed marriage 23:18  |  MB 29/12/06   58.   It`s Cohen, again 23:19  |  Olive oil 29/12/06   59.   parents who dont care 23:22  |  Benny 29/12/06   60.   worthy of debate 23:23  |  Rudy 29/12/06   61.   EXPLAINING INTERMARRIAGE/RACISM TO NON-JEWS 23:33  |  jew 29/12/06   62.   Why do most half-breeds marry out? 23:40  |  Shir 29/12/06   63.   Confussion.. lots of it 00:14  |  Daniel 30/12/06   64.   Intermarriage 00:37  |  Geoff 30/12/06   65.   to noam #46 01:16  |  cristina 30/12/06   66.   37. love conquers all???!!! 01:50  |  mhung 30/12/06   67.   cristina #65 02:25  |  Daniel 30/12/06   68.   Marriage 03:09  |  Kitty 30/12/06   69.   to cristina #65 03:11  |  jew 30/12/06   70.   Benny 03:54  |  Chaim Gorenstein 30/12/06   71.   Intermarried Couples 04:09  |  Shmuelshachor 30/12/06   72.   Stephen Murray 04:32  |  LL 30/12/06   73.   INTERMARRIAGE 05:40  |  JOJO 30/12/06   74.   Addressing the Subject Backwards 06:25  |  Grumpy Old Man 30/12/06   75.   RE: marry and have sex with whoever you like! 06:27  |  NYC 30/12/06   76.   hopelessly in love 07:18  |  sho 30/12/06   77.   BLESSINGS OR CURSES 08:12  |  MICHEL K. 30/12/06   78.   #73 JOJO 10:04  |  keith 30/12/06   79.   Arpatheid 13:23  |  Alphonse 30/12/06   80.   Love is a child of Freedom 13:54  |  Alicia 30/12/06   81.   Christian-Jewish Intermarriage 14:35  |  JewishHeart 30/12/06   82.   Orthodox-Supported Messianic Judaism 14:39  |  JewishHeart 30/12/06   83.   #79 MSR ALPHONSE AND THE JOYS OF LOVE 15:58  |  paul harris 30/12/06   84.   79 I mean no disrespect to Jewish institutions. 17:07  |  Alphonse 30/12/06   85.   To Paul Harris #83 17:16  |  Geoff 30/12/06   86.   #85 GEOFF ARE YOU A PAL OF HIS THEN ?? 17:53  |  paul harris 30/12/06   87.   ALPHONSE ITS AJEWISH STATE .non jews married to jew are admittted 17:56  |  paul harris 30/12/06   88.   #74 does ANYONE UNDERSTAND WHAT MARRIAGE IS ABOUT ??? 18:02  |  paul harris 30/12/06   89.   Good to see a high rate of intermarriage in Moslem 18:15  |  Micha 30/12/06   90.   Why all this? 18:49  |  Harald 30/12/06   91.   DEBUNKING THE NON-THREAT (part 1) 19:46  |  Yaela Katz 30/12/06   92.   DEBUNKING THE NON-THREAT (part 2) 19:46  |  Yaela Katz 30/12/06   93.   DEBUNKING THE NON-THREAT (part 3) 19:48  |  Yaela Katz 30/12/06   94.   Jean-Paul Cohen 19:50  |  RFE 30/12/06   95.   Chosen People 20:01  |  Geoff 30/12/06   96.   to Harald 20:24  |  charles 30/12/06   97.   Loving your faith is not racism. 20:35  |  Ben Azai 30/12/06   98.   Within The Community 21:25  |  NYC 30/12/06   99.   HEJSSAN Harald! 21:54  |  Alicia 30/12/06   100.   Jewish Identity 22:37  |  psyops 30/12/06   101.   Re# 3 Christina 05:26  |  Meir Weinstein 31/12/06   102.   #43 yoram 06:45  |  vic 31/12/06   103.   Jean Paul son Jews not a nation. Israel is a nation. 07:51  |  Father Son Spirit 31/12/06   104.   To #88 08:09  |  Gordon 31/12/06   105.   Drop the "Jew only via Jewish mother" law ! 09:28  |  Aaron 31/12/06   106.   #49 I agree Charles 09:32  |  Aaron 31/12/06   107.   reply to #47 Moses married out 09:40  |  Ben Azai 31/12/06   108.   reply to #42 09:44  |  Grammarian 31/12/06   109.   #104 to #88 09:51  |  Aaron 31/12/06   110.   From the Ignorant to the Hateful 10:32  |  Eli 31/12/06   111.   Aaron 11:01  |  Eli 31/12/06   112.   paul harris # 5 12:56  |  dubious 31/12/06   113.   yosemite sam # 7 12:59  |  dubious 31/12/06   114.   To Alicia 14:28  |  Harald 31/12/06   115.   What if... 16:42  |  qwerty 31/12/06   116.   TO #114 HARALD 17:17  |  Alicia 31/12/06   117.   RE: What if...#115 18:30  |  NYC 31/12/06   118.   nothing wrong with cultures disappearing 00:07  |  cristina 01/01/07   119.   Adult Children of Intermarriage 10:12  |  Robin 01/01/07   120.   To Alicia again 18:28  |  Harald 02/01/07   121.   ortho supported messianic judaism 04:38  |  pushkina 13/03/08   122.   Place the blame where the blame belongs. 00:55  |  ras 15/03/08

Today Online Bradley Burston: Ten Commandments for Arab and Jew at war Responses: 143 Officials: IAF helicopter hit by Palestinian fire over Gaza Responses: 162 Police arrest rabbi for 'inciting Palestinians' in East Jerusalem Responses: 111 State Dept. notes rise in world anti-Semitism over last decade Responses: 138 Haaretz.com TV: Al Jazeera slams Israeli boycott as attack on freedom of expression Responses: 69 Rosner's Domain If you marry them, you have a better chance of keeping them State Department: UN measures fuel anti-Semitism (WTR) Poll: Is the "road map" still relevant? Neocons and the cultural proclivity of Jews (WTR) General Fraser and the third whiner More Headlines 00:06 Sources: Israel warned Syria it could pay price for any Hezbollah attack 23:32 Rice: Neither Israel nor PA have done nearly enough to implement road map 00:00 Officials: IAF helicopter hit by Palestinian fire over Gaza 23:33 Merkel, Blair planning Middle East summit in Berlin for June 20:06 EU demands Israel halt all construction in W. Bank, E. J'lem 14:30 But did you know he's a Muslim? 16:05 If you marry them, you have a better chance of keeping them 22:12 Two Israelis wounded in clashes with IDF at anti-fence protest 13:54 Berlin official: Merkel speech to Knesset signals normalizing ties 15:37 State Dept. notes rise in global anti-Semitism over last decade 00:07 Police suspect homicide as two men trample cop with car, killing him 17:10 Dutch brace for new anti-Islam film directed by far-right leader 16:32 Court extends remand of two men suspected of beating Arab workers Previous Editions Select Day 14 mar 13 mar 12 mar 11 mar 10 mar 09 mar 07 mar 06 mar 05 mar 04 mar 03 mar 02 mar

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