What can be done in view of the demographical extinction of the Jewish in the world because of the rejection of the children of interfaith marriages?

The government of Israel must make the political decision of choosing between: the Law of the Womb or Jewish continuity.

Author: Naum Kliksberg

General Coordinator of the “Interfaith Marriages World Center”

-  www.interfaithmarriagesworldcenter.info
– www.matrimoniosmixtos.info

This texts sets forth, analyzes and interprets, the disquiets shown about the matter in the emails sent from many countries, by thousands of interfaith marriages and their children, to the site of the Interfaith Marriages World Center directed by the author.

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In the year 1920 out of every 100 Jewish who married in the world only 2% married non-Jewish. In 2009,   72 % marry non-Jewish  (are much more in the population of university professionals than in non-university professionals). It can be estimated that in 15 to 20 years out of every 100 Jewish who marry 90% or more shall marry non-Jewish. (These statistics exclude Israel).

A majority of the interfaith marriages and of their sons/daughters leave Judaism, the main reason being the constant and aggressive discrimination and rejection towards them promoted by the orthodox Rabbis in the Jewish communities in the world. For that reason the growing political power of the orthodox Rabbis in Israel and in the Jewish communities in the world (like in Argentina) is a great worry for the interfaith marriages and their children.

So long as the political power of the orthodox Rabbis increases in the world the demographical extinction of Jewish accelerates. Because the motivation in millions of members of interfaith marriages and their children for leaving Judaism is greater.

The main problem is that while the government of Israel continues implementing officially the Jewish Law of the Womb, and thereby legitimating and strengthening in the whole world the practice against the interfaith marriages by the orthodox Rabbis, most interfaith marriages continue leaving Judaism, even those in which the wife is Jewish (in these cases their sons/daughters are accepted as Jewish, but the rejection because she formed “that interfaith family” continues being sufficiently disagreeable as to move her NOT to choose to get integrated in the Jewish people).

For these reasons a rapid process of demographical extinction of the Jewish of the diaspora is occurring today, which shall have serious negative consequences for Israel.

The Jewish leaders and newspapers, generally tried to give little information about the current process of demographical extinction of the Jewish of the diaspora. This is not ethical, because the Jewish are entitled to be informed deeply about the most serious problems they must confront. This changed suddenly when this year the government of Israel studied an experts’ report, requested by the government, in which it was shown that the current process of rapid demographical extinction of the Jewish in the diaspora caused by the growing number of the interfaith marriages reached alarming levels, which put the continuity of the Jewish communities in the world in danger, therefore something should be done immediately.

Thus the government of Israel decided to consider the problem as a matter of State’s policy. But instead of making actions in the direction recommended by the brightest intellectuals of Judaism, that is to facilitate and promote that the children of interfaith marriages approach Judaism, the government, pushed by the orthodox Rabbis, made the political decision of making an aggressive world campaign, even by television, against the interfaith marriages and their sons/daughters, which started on September, 2009.

The government of Israel made a great mistake, with that campaign it made the situation worse. It was rapidly seen that instead of reducing the process of demographical extinction, it would accelerate it. Because since they felt hurt millions of people in the world who are currently members of interfaith marriages or are children of them and who chose Judaism, could leave Judaism.

Because of the indignation that this campaign caused in the whole world, and seeing that it would fail in its purposes, a few days after the government of Israel interrupted the advertisement on television against the interfaith marriages and their sons/daughters.

The demographical extinction can only be avoided if the government of Israel took two political steps:

1. Instead of recognizing, based on the Jewish Law of the Womb, only a son/daughter of a Jewish mother as Jewish, recognizing someone who is a son/daughter of a Jewish mother or father as Jewish.

2. Making or promoting in the Jewish communities actions and proposals that move the children of the interfaith marriages to approach Judaism.

The Jewish Law of the Womb arose in the Tenth Century in Europe, later it extended to the whole Jewish world. Before that the recognition of the Jewish identity of the children was made by the mother or the father. At the beginning of the Hebrews’ history it was made by the father.

In this century the Jewish Law of the Womb is unjustifiable, and causes every kind of discriminations among the Jewish, and between Jewish and non-Jewish.

The fundamentalist Rabbis of the orthodox current energetically support the Law of the Womb because without it they lose their political and economic power.

The orthodox Rabbis say that the Jewish Law of the Womb must be kept because thanks to it the Jewish are born with a “different soul” from the soul all human beings have got, since only a Jewish mother’s womb can transmit a “Distinguishing Element” that gives “special characteristics to a Jewish’s soul”, a non-Jewish mother has not got that “Distinguishing Element”, even if the father of her son/daughter is a Jewish man, therefore if their sons/daughters are accepted as Jewish, people who might have “souls with characteristics that are different from Jewish souls” might become members of the Jewish people (the author is writing a book about the matter).

Only the orthodox Rabbis have this belief about the “special soul of the Jewish”, it is rejected by the reformist Rabbis, by the conservative Rabbis, and by non-religious Jewish. This concept about the soul, opposed to the concept of equality of birth among human beings, has very dangerous political effects, since it attempts against the current concepts about human rights, against the essence of the democratic system, and promotes absurd racist psychological fantasies of superiority of some individuals or populations over others.

Of the three religious currents in Judaism, that of reformist Rabbis already annulled the Law of the Womb, in that of conservative Rabbis a majority of them want the same but they are stopped because they do not want to conflict with the government of Israel, they might rapidly stop enforcing the Jewish Law of the Womb if the government of Israel did. If this happened the orthodox Rabbis would very probably agree to annul that law so as not to be totally overlooked. But if the fundamentalist orthodox Rabbis wanted within a religious frame to continue supporting the Law of the Womb and preach about their supposed advantages for the Jewish souls, in a democratic system it is fair that they are able to do so, but without using the legal and political system of the government of Israel, as they do today, in order to “force” all Jewish to be ruled by their beliefs.

In this century, to continue imposing the Jewish Law of the Womb on the Jewish people is an attitude of fundamentalist religious violence. It separates the Jewish family, brothers from sisters, parents from their sons/daughters, cousins from cousins, it discriminates and violates Jewish men’s rights only because of their male condition, it is detrimental for the children’s psychological development, it causes the sons/daughters of interfaith marriages and their parents to leave Judaism, it causes unnecessary divisions in Judaism.

Edgar Bronfman, one of the most important leaders of Judaism of the last 100 years, was during 27 years (1980-2007) the President of the World Jewish Congress (the most important Jewish institution in the world), said,

“It’s time to abandon racist ideas and to encourage the interfaith marriages to bring up their children in Judaism, the concept of pureness starts to sound as Nazism, that is to say racist, the interfaith marriages shall not disappear, they must be seen as a means to double the number of Jewish”. (These statements were published at a renowned Jewish site, they could be viewed on October 20, 2009 at: http://www.librosjudios.com.ar/cgi-perl/medios/vernota.cgi?medio=lavozjudia&numero=358&nota=358-17)

The Jewish of the whole world must support Edgar Bronfman’s proposal, in that way Judaism shall rescue the best of its millenarian history, it shall revitalize, and it shall solve the most serious danger it is facing in this century, that of the rapid demographical extinction it is suffering and that in the next years shall cause the Jewish communities of the world to disappear if the government of Israel continues supporting the Law of the Womb, a legal-political tool that causes the children of the interfaith marriages to leave Judaism.

The best solution would be that the government of Israel takes the political step of establishing that the current Law of the Return, which grants Israeli citizenship to all those who have a Jewish father or a Jewish mother, shall also grant Jewish identity. It must do this quickly, because in a few years it can be too late to avoid extinction, every year the number of interfaith marriages and of their children who leave Judaism increases considerably. After thousands of years during which there are Jewish communities in many countries in the world, and that they survive to many threats, their continuity is in danger like never before, the historical responsibility of being able to avoid the Jewish demographical extinction of the diaspora fell to the current government of Israel.

The renowned Jewish intellectuals, of Israel and of the diaspora, have also got a historical responsibility in this matter, they must listen to their voice in order to clarify the Jewish public opinion.

Many Jewish intellectuals and politicians (such as Golda Meir) wanted the government of Israel to annul the Law of the Womb in the past, but the orthodox Rabbis’ political operations prevented it. But never like today was there a situation in which a government of Israel has to make the political decision of choosing between the Law of the Womb and Jewish continuity. If it does not annul the Law of the Womb, Israel and the whole Jewish people shall suffer the consequences that shall be caused by the disappearance of the Jewish communities of the world.-