Intermarriage: Concepts and Strategies for Families and Synagogue Leaders

The material in this manual was designed to provide you, the reader, with the perspective necessary to more fully understand the impact intermarriage and changing attitudes towards marginalized populations are having on the Jewish community as a whole. It also offers the insight of men and women who have been working with intermarrieds for a number of years in the hope that a fuller understanding will emerge of what is occurring, more specifically, within our families and in our communities. Families, like synagogue communities, need to learn how to make Judaism embracing for emerging generations. Each family, each synagogue, has its unique culture, and as a consequence needs to develop its own strategy or strategies. The introductory essays offer perspective. The section entitled Building Sensitivity suggests ways family members and institutions need to develop if they hope to aid our increasingly diverse families. The unit devoted to Family Dynamics offers guidance to parents, grandparents, and clergy who must come to understand the nature of their influence. The units devoted to Improving Community and Providing Comfort help define the concept of 'welcoming' and place it in proper perspective. Finally, the unit entitled Conversion, when coupled with some of the essays from preceding units, positions conversion in what is believed to be its contemporary context. This manual is food for thought. It raises questions, encourages discussion, and attempts to broaden one's understanding to strengthen our families and communities.