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| KERUV Intermarriage has caused tension in families from the time of Abraham. It probably affects each of us, either directly or indirectly. Keruv is the Jewish Conservative Movement's response to intermarriage. Northern Hills Synagogue is committed to offering programs that meet our families' needs. This year, we will have a series of programs featuring intermarried couples sharing their experiences and guiding us in meeting their unique needs. Future programs will be developed to meet the needs of families who have in-laws and other relatives who are not Jewish. Northern Hills began the journey of inclusion of intermarried couples over thirty years ago. The journey continues today. Ten percent of our membership is intermarried families; that percentage continues to grow. Conversations with our intermarried families reveal a high level of comfort and acceptance at Northern Hills. Both the Jewish and the Non-Jewish partners feel accepted and welcome. Their families participate in our community and synagogue at their levels of comfort. They participate in Northern Hills social events; educational programs; Shabbat, weekday and holiday services, and give their time and resources generously. The Jewish spouses have often served in leadership positions; the non-Jewish spouses have served on committees and been members of Northern Hills Sisterhood and Men’s Club. Their children have enrolled in our Religious school, have celebrated their bar or bat mitzvah at Northern Hills, and been members of the Youth Groups. The following information is provided to help those who are seeking affiliation with a warm, welcoming synagogue community.
The goal of KERUV, as articulated by the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism, is the strengthening of Jewish identity among Jews, and affiliation with the Jewish community leading to the establishment of a Jewish home and family in which Judaism is the only religious tradition that is practiced. The target population for KERUV should include Jews and their non-Jewish significant others, together with unaffiliated couples, and people in search of their Jewish roots. Initiating KERUV programming is by no means an endorsement of intermarriage. Those of us who have young children must continue our expectations that our children will marry Jewishly. It is only an acknowledgment that times have changed. Observing Shabbat and Jewish holidays at home, giving our children a Jewish education, including attending Mercaz High School, going to Camp Ramah or Camp Livingston, participating in Kadima, USY, Birthright trips, gap year spent in Israel, and attending a college with an active Jewish student body all increase the likelihood our kids will marry someone who is Jewish. But many of us parents do these things, and our children still marry someone who is not Jewish. We need to rethink the reasons why people intermarry. We should no longer see intermarriage as rejecting Judaism. As we all know, the Jewish community is significantly different from the one of yesterday. Many of the outside pressures that held the community together are gone. We live in a society that is very open. Our children often have more friends who are not Jewish than friends who are Jewish. If the majority of their friends are non-Jews, it is only natural they will fall in love with non-Jews. By starting a KERUV program, we will be in a position to support intermarried couples. Intermarried couples, like many families today, are separated by tremendous distance from their immediate family. This distance might be in miles, or it may be associated with the issues of intermarriage itself. Because of these issues and the tensions involved in intermarriage, these couples have an increased need for a supportive community. If NHS helps these couples deal with religious and other matters, they are more likely to want to come close to us. Many of the non-Jewish spouses are very supportive of their Jewish spouse belonging to Northern Hills and raising their children as Jews. And to the supportive spouses, we thank you for that support. KERUV programs also begin to resolve a demographic problem. The national Jewish population survey of 2000-2001 reports approximately 46% of currently married couples are intermarried couples. These numbers lead us to the assumption that intermarriage is here to stay. Two researchers, Antony Gordon and Richard Horowitz, in an article “Will Your Grandchildren Be Jewish?” used this data and the fertility rate of Jews to predict the number of Jews in the future. They predict that in three generations there will be a 75% decrease in Conservative Jews. Perhaps the best reason for KERUV is quite simply that G-d expects us to respect people of other faiths. Respecting non-Jewish spouses is not only acting in accordance with the Jewish tenet that all people are created in the image of G-d, it also holds out the greatest chance that Jews and non-Jews in interfaith marriages will want to come close to us and to the Jewish tradition. If we are open and respectful, the possibility that some of the non-Jewish spouses will choose to become Jews increases. After all, most conversions occur within the first ten years of marriage, not before marriage. Please
visit us often. For more information, please contact the Synagogue at 513-931-6038. Read Rabbi Barnard's sermon about KERUV here. For more information
or to express your views, please contact: Karroll Miller, Barb
Goldstein, or Rabbi
Barnard. |