From: hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Intermarriage
Date: 8 Oct 92 18:09:21 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department

In article <1992Oct8.015854.3744@cbnewsk.cb.att.com> alu@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (Alan Lustiger) writes:
>In article <2AD1E105.6518@ics.uci.edu> mkrawitz@bonnie.ics.uci.edu (Marc Krawitz) writes:
>>As a young, Jewish college student, I am tired of hearing about attempts
>>by other Jews to interfere with healthy, interracial and intercultural
>>relationships.  I believe that the needs and desires of the individual
>>come before those of his/her culture, and furthermore, I believe that
>>any attempts to undermine these rights are unethical.
>...

>>For those of you involved in interracial relationships, I salute
>>your courage to stand up to the oppressive elements within the
>>global Jewish community.

>>Marc Krawitz

>And I salute you, Marc Krawitz, for having the guts to publicly say
>in a Jewish newsgroup that the continued existence of the Jewish
>people is of no concern to you, and that your needs outweigh those
>of the Jewish community as a whole. It is also refreshing to hear
>a Jewish college student explicitly say that the destruction of his
>people is "healthy," as interrmarriage is a "fundamental tool"
>for reducing racism, cleverly implying that those of us who actually
>value the Jewish religion are racists.  (BTW, when did race enter 
>the picture? Or do you view Judaism as a race? I think I've heard
>that done once before...)

I see no such statement by Mr. Krawitz.  There are large numbers of quite
serious Jews whose attitudes are substantially different from those of
Mr. Lustiger.  There is no one Jewish culture; cultures need to evolve.

Much of what is called the "Jewish culture" on this net is that isolationist
phenomenon, partially forced on us by our oppressors, that we can only survive
by essentially rejecting all external culture.  I do not have the precise
reference, but the Tanya, I believe book 9, has the explicit statement that
"the knowledge of the goyim is more defiling than impure speech."  Now those
of you who recall my postings on the matter know that I consider secular
knowledge as indispensible for religious understanding.  If our sages reached
a conclusion by using incorrect secular knowledge, we must at least overthrow
their reasoning.  

I am quite aware of the stetl mentality, and I have no desire to force those
who wish to operate in that culture not to do so.  But that is no reason to
attempt to impose that on the rest of us.  Intermarriage is not to be
undertaken lightly, but even the Talmudic dictum that the child of a Jewish
woman is Jewish recognizes that it must be considered.  Possibly conversion
should be made slightly easier, and conversion for the sake of marriage even
explicitly allowed, as it was effectively in much of the Jewish community 
earlier in this century.  Our religion can withstand challenge, and the
Jewish community will not disappear even with far more common interactions
between Jews and gentiles.  

I do not see a return to marriages being arranged by a shadchan, as in the
past.  Even among the gentiles, having the man and woman arrange their own
marriage is recent.  We need to adapt, and we can better adapt by not driving
out all who differ from a particular view.
-- 
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)  
{purdue,pur-ee}!pop.stat!hrubin(UUCP)