Interfaith Marriage - Views of Judaism

Views of Judaism

Interfaith marriage in Judaism was historically looked upon with very strong disfavour by Jewish leaders, and it remains an enormously controversial issue. The Talmud and later authorities prohibit non-Jews to Jews, and discuss when the prohibition is from the Torah and when it is rabbinic. In 1236, Moses of Coucy induced those Jews who had contracted marriages with Christian or Mohammedan women to dissolve them. In 1844, the Rabbinical Conference of Brunswick permitted Jews to marry any adherent of a monotheistic religion, as long as any children of the marriage would be able to be brought up as Jewish. This conference was highly controversial; one of its resolutions called on its members to abolish the Kol Nidre prayer, which opens the Yom Kippur service. One member of the Brunswick Conference later changed his opinion, becoming an opponent of intermarriage. Any non-Jew who wants to can become a Jew.

Traditional Judaism does not consider marriage between a Jew by birth and a convert as an intermarriage. Hence, all the Biblical passages that appear to support intermarriages, such as that of Joseph to Asenath, and that of Ruth to Boaz, were regarded by the classical rabbis as having occurred only after the foreign spouse had converted to Judaism. Some opinions, however, still considered Canaanites forbidden to marry even after conversion; this did not necessarily apply to their children.

Orthodox Judaism refuses to accept any validity or legitimacy of intermarriages, and tries to avoid assisting them to take place.

Conservative Judaism does not sanction intermarriage, but encourages acceptance of the non-Jewish spouse within the family, hoping that such acceptance will lead to the spouse's conversion to Judaism.

Reform, Progressive (known in the USA as Reconstructionist), and Liberal Judaism do not generally regard the opinions of the classical rabbis as having any force, and so many rabbis from these denominations are willing to officiate at interfaith marriages; they do, though, still try to persuade intermarried couples to raise their children as Jews. As with many religious denominations, however, there are a few dissenting voices; in 1870 some Reform Jews published the opinion that intermarriage is prohibited.

In the early 19th century intermarriage was comparatively rare – less than a tenth of a percent (0.1%) of the Jews of Algeria, for example, practiced exogamy, but since the early 20th century, rates of Jewish intermarriage have increased drastically. In the United States of America between 1996 and 2001, nearly half (47%) of marriages involving Jews were intermarriages with non-Jewish partners, and a similar proportion (44%) existed during the early 20th century in New South Wales. Overall, there is a relatively high level of resistance to inter-faith marriage in Judaism and this often constitutes a form of self-segregation - preventing Jewish communities from integrating and merging with surrounding populations around the world.