tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post4918571760083166007..comments2024-03-20T06:29:27.167-04:00Comments on The Rabbi with a Blog (Rabbi Jason Miller): Intermarried Rabbinical StudentsRabbi Jason Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07805550465729805847noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-78742481913007781122015-03-06T17:21:06.646-05:002015-03-06T17:21:06.646-05:00At least to be a Rabbi, your partner should be Jew...At least to be a Rabbi, your partner should be Jewish or commit to converting. This applies equally whether the partner is of the opposite sex or the same sex.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-70417171642506708252013-12-11T22:36:37.557-05:002013-12-11T22:36:37.557-05:00I am a Los Angeles area rabbi who has watched seve...I am a Los Angeles area rabbi who has watched several rabbinical and cantorial colleagues struggle with the intermarriage issue in their personal lives--including one rabbi who kept her marriage secret until her non-Jewish spouse converted. I also know a female rabbi who with a long-term live-in Jewish boyfriend and a male rabbi who lives with his non-Jewish girlfriend and an Aleph-ordained female rabbi who was married to her non-Jewish husband before she was ordained. In our "you can have it all" world, I guess this all seems normal. I find all of these situations middled and sad and, fundamentally, dishonest. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-27765335945730253412012-04-14T20:07:59.340-04:002012-04-14T20:07:59.340-04:00Intermarriage is at the heart of a double standard...Intermarriage is at the heart of a double standard within judiasm that stems from t he concept of being a chosen people. It s discrimatory to exclude from jewish institutions those who choose the have partners from other religions- we would rather tolerate those who have sex with same sex partners and yet both prevent the development of jewish families. To suggest that rabbs follow every law of judiasm is as farcical as accepting that the pope is gods representative on earth - and if we accept th at rabbis can be human and struggle with the ethics of following each and every law then we must ask which laws are more acceptable to transgress than others? As a religion that champions antidiscrimination i have never been able to reconcile the iexclusion of those who are intermarried with the strongly held belief of freedom for all to practice their religions in peace ( from exodus to the holocoaust and back)Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-8123807568322200122012-04-14T20:05:41.289-04:002012-04-14T20:05:41.289-04:00Intermarriage is at the heart of a double standard...Intermarriage is at the heart of a double standard within judiasm that stems from t he concept of being a chosen people. It s discrimatory to exclude from jewish institutions those who choose the have partners from other religions- we would rather tolerate those who have sex with same sex partners and yet both prevent the development of jewish families. To suggest that rabbs follow every law of judiasm is as farcical as accepting that the pope is gods representative on earth - and if we accept th at rabbis can be human and struggle with the ethics of following each and every law then we must ask which laws are more acceptable to transgress than others? As a religion that champions antidiscrimination i have never been able to reconcile the iexclusion of those who are intermarried with the strongly held belief of freedom for all to practice their religions in peace ( from exodus to the holocoaust and back)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-60573781614220660022009-05-17T22:17:00.000-04:002009-05-17T22:17:00.000-04:00It's a tough issue, but I think that the article d...It's a tough issue, but I think that the article does raise an interesting "double standard" - if these movements are saying that it's okay to intermarry, and if they are claiming to be tolerant of that, how can these institutions not allow people just because they're intermarried?<br /><br />But at the same time, a Rabbi should be committed to Judaism and to living a Jewish life, and maybe that requires marrying someone Jewish...<br /><br />I actually have a friend who was more or less kicked out of AJU because of this issue. They told him that either he had to break up with his non-Jewish girlfriend, or leave the school. He left the school, she converted, and they got married.jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04870770833700745207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-54310713577299229042009-04-24T22:45:00.000-04:002009-04-24T22:45:00.000-04:00In my humble opinion, if a couple is married, both...In my humble opinion, if a couple is married, both should be Jewish. If they are in a relationship but not married, free choice comes in unless the couple has children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6003330.post-87679347251173879642009-04-24T14:32:00.000-04:002009-04-24T14:32:00.000-04:00Wow, there is a lot here (I clicked through to the...Wow, there is a lot here (I clicked through to the New Voices article). First, some less central thoughts.<br /><br />The end of the article is very telling. I don't know if the writer is fairly representing Curiel's attitude, but the quote "His struggle, in fact, is for a new brand of Judaism whose values are truly universal" got to me, and not in a good way. If Curiel is <I>really</I> trying to establish a new brand of Judaism, then he probably shouldn't be so surprised or (maybe) bothered when an "official voice of Judaism" rejects his vision. You can't be a mainstream maverick, can you?<br /><br />That kind of thinking, along with "Curiel has written a new policy that he hopes HC and other rabbinical schools will one day adopt" strike me as pretty arrogant. Maybe I'm being unfair and/or defensive (wouldn't be the first time), but for him to lecture the movements about what is proper, while accusing us of still being in "Mitzrayim" strikes me as pretty <I>chutzpadick</I>. <br /><br />But, that's all about Curiel. The main issue is the thing itself - intermarried Rabbis. And, what I find most interesting is what the CCAR said - it's a mistake to confuse acceptance of intermarried couples with <I>full</I> acceptance of intermarriage, as something equal to intra-marriage. We don't talk about this a lot, in part because it's not polite, but the reality is that much (most?) of the Jewish world doesn't see intermarriage as an equally valid option. This might be the only "official" place you'll see this, but I think these policies shed a light on that little secret. What I'd be really interested to know is, among movements with high intermarriage rates (such as the Reform movement, of which I'm a part), how many people would accept an intermarried Rabbi, and now many would find that "over the line"? <br /><br />Myself? I'll confess to not seeing intermarriage as fully equal to intra-marriage. I'm not saying that intermarriage is evil (it isn't). I'm not saying it's going to be the death of Judaism, or of Liberal Judaism (it's not). I'm just saying that, in my <I>kishkes</I> I value intra-marriage over intermarriage. Now, if that's a reflection of my deeply held beliefs, or a betrayal of those beliefs because of fear/tribalism/etc? I'll admit that's a very good question, but one I'm not going to try to answer here!Rabbi Jason Rosenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03718650670542762857noreply@blogger.com