THE SPIRITUAL STATE
Marc Gellman
Choosing Outside the Chosen
Through intermarriage, the U.S. Jewish population is rapidly shrinking.
The recently concluded PBS documentary "The Jewish Americans" by David Grubin reminded me most of "Beaver Valley," my favorite Walt Disney "True Life Adventures." The narration of the great Winston Hibler described a beaver Shangri-La somewhere high in the Rocky Mountains where the happy beavers were never really threatened by trappers and wolves, or developers who wanted to turn their ponds into condos and ski resorts. I'm sure that there are still a few Beaver Valleys left but not many. It's the same with the Jews of America. The "Jewish Americans" never really addresses the not-hysterical possibility that the Jews of Beaver Valley may soon become extinct.
The demographic catastrophe presently decimating American Jewry is not in dispute. Without numbing you with statistics, the basic facts are absolutely clear and chilling. The 6 million Jews in America will probably number no more than a couple of million by midcentury. This would make the Jewish percentage of the American population about the same as it was during the Civil War. After the Civil War, the Jews in America tripled as a result of European Jewish immigration in the first two decades of the 20th century. Today is different. There is no place in the world where 4 million Jews are waiting, ready to come to America and inflate its sagging Jewish population.
The cause of the pending extinction of American Jews makes our plight even more tragic. The Holocaust took one out of every three Jews on earth by genocide. The Jews of America face the same loss today as the result of acceptance, admiration and love. America is loving her Jews to death.
Until 1960 few Jews married non-Jews. Now more than half of the Jews who marry are marrying unconverted Christians. Only 30 percent of their children, and only 4 percent of their grandchildren are raised as Jews. Some demographers say our birthrate is the lowest of any group in America, so we are now older than any group in America. According to some studies, there are now more Jews in Israel than America. The Orthodox, particularly the Hasidic sector, is immune to assimilation but it remains a small minority, and its rejection of American culture is not at all appealing to Jews who have no inclination to give up either Aretha Franklin or Chinese food.
The most vile force in the collapse of Beaver Valley Jewry is the anti-Zionist propaganda flooding campuses, and the media, which have contributed to a radical decline in the identification and support of Israel by young Jews. In a recent study, fewer than half of young American Jews said that the destruction of the State of Israel would be a personal catastrophe, as opposed to the vast majority of older Jews for whom the State of Israel remains a source of deep pride and a key to Jewish identity.
Even with ample food and the absence of predators, these are bad times for the Jews of Beaver Valley. Knowing this and then watching the parade of Jewish all-stars and Jewish success in David Grubin's work made me queasy. I felt as if I was watching not a documentary but a eulogy for a group that the filmmaker had no clue was actually dying.
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Member Comments
Posted By: hs81 @ 02/11/2008 4:08:09 PM
Comment: although Rabbi Gellman expresses concern about the intermarriage issue and how it affects the Jewish population, he is wise not to utilize the scare tactics that so many parents and community leaders use when they push for marriage within the faith. threats and warnings are not going to increase rates of Jewish endogamy, and any sort of Jewish programming that has even the slightest hint of "hooking up single Jews with one another" can make people uncomfortable, even those who want to marry within the faith. they want to find someone on their own terms. Judaism has become less about rituals and more about concern with bloodlines and marriage. every religion teaches its preference for in-marriage, yet Judaism seems to take it far beyond the others. yes, marriage between Jews is preferable and wonderful. but using guilt and scare tactics to ensure marriage within the faith is inappropriate. it is more beneficial to highlight the positives of endogamy than the negatives of intermarriage. i agree with Rabbi Gellman when he says that Judaism isn't simply about food and humor. but i also think that Judaism isn't simply about who we marry either. a Jew is still a Jew regardless of who they marry and should not be treated as some sort of failure because they didn't meet a nice Jewish boy or girl.
and while we may not believe it, Orthodox Judaism is not immune to the influence of the outside world as demonstrated by a 3% intermarriage rate. it's small compared to the intermarriage rate among non-Orthodox Jews, but it shows that they are not as insulated as we assume (look at Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman. he grew up Orthodox and married a non-Jewish woman, yet he's still steadfast in his observance and his wife has been welcomed by several in the community even though she has chosen not to convert but instead to raise their children as Jews). every denomination is finding ways to deal with the intermarriage issue. although Orthodox Jews commonly admonish those who intermarry, there are some who are trying to work with the intermarried rather than against them. and given the decline in population and affiliation, that is probably a wise and bold move on their part.
Posted By: politically incorrect @ 02/11/2008 2:23:46 PM
Comment: With regards to intermarriage between The Chosen People and (by default) The Non-Chosen People, all I can say is this: My stepfamily is Jewish. I am not. I find no problem with different cultures blending and becoming stronger through love and intermarriage. I'm sorry if Mr. Gellman is worried that my stepfamily has become degenerated in some way because they have stooped down to my level. But I'll be glad when crusty old racists like him fade into the sunset.
And please...quit using the Holocaust Card to peddle your racism. It's demeaning to Jews and non-Jews alike.
Posted By: kcarizona @ 02/11/2008 3:09:16 AM
Comment: The Jews were are and will always be Gods favorite people and they will never disappear no matter what you throw at em - i am just going with what the bible says as clear as day. Mess with Israel and you mess with God. Good luck with that.