"CAN WE DO ANYTHING? YES WE CAN", was the heading of an article written by the Senior Rabbi of one of the local conservative Synagogues Bulletin. He follows the heading by saying: Can We Do Anything?
Yes We Canby Rabbi Daniel Schur
What is happening to us? Are we going into a precipate decline in the Jewish population in the United States? All the statistics point a dagger at the heart of the Jewish people.End of Quote. The solution to the epidemic of intermarriage by the worthy liberal Rabbi reminds me of the story of the sages of Chelm. A group of citizens in the town of Chelm were busily engaged in digging a foundation for a new bathouse, when a disturbing thought occurred to one of the laborers, "What are we going to do with all this dirt we are digging up?" he asked. One of the Chelmites smiled and held up his hand for silence. "I have the solution," he proclaimed. "We will make another deep pit and into it we will shovel all this earth we are digging for the bath house". Another Chelmite raised his voice in protest. "That won't work at all! What will we do with the earth from the second pit?" "It is very simple," responded a wise Chelmite. "We will dig another pit twice as big as the first two." There was no arguing with this example of Chelmic wisdom.Intermarriage has become epidemic. It is now a very real threat to our future. I think we should carefully reconsider our aversion to performing a Civil marriage if one of the partners is not Jewish, provided they sign an agreement to live as a Jewish family, to raise their children as Jews, to have their children converted to Judaism, and to continue counseling with the Rabbi in a effort to unify the family religiously. It is too late and too dangerous to turn our backs on such people. It is high time to reach out and embrace them. We must take the risk.
The worthy Rabbi misses the point. If he is concerned about the 50% rate of intermarriage then he must become aware than an ounce of prevention is worth more than risking a doubtful cure.
Our concern must be focused upon the Jews who initiated the intermarriage and where we have failed them.
Maybe it is time to take the risk of turning back the hands of time and admit that liberal Judaism and a Judaism that caters to the whims of this adherence has failed. A Judaism not based on the revelation of Sinai is putty in the hands of assimilation and doomed to fail. We must launch a sincere effort to select teachers who are G-d imbued and have an insatiable desire to transmit authentic Judaism.
Enough catering and compromising. Strict adherence to the tradition of their faith. Tallis, Teffilin, dietary laws, observance of the Sabbath, circumcisions on the eighth day are divinely designed preventives of religious assimilation.
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