But what's right for the community doesn't always benefit the individual. Cardin also believes there is a distinction between public policy and private pain. The statement was a response to the question of how we apportion Jewish public monies. Hence, the name of Ephrain Buchwald's center. In other contexts, inreach means reaching to Jews with some kind of involvement versus outreach for intermarried Jews and their families.
Different terminology makes a complicated debate even more opaque.
In fact, those on both sides of the fence question how useful the current framing of the debate is. It's an odd place to stop the conversation. But then, intermarriage is a convenient scapegoat issue. Bayme questions the headline-getting emphasis on intermarriage. The much bigger question, he asserts, is strengthening the core of Jewish life and its periphery, to whatever extent possible, through quality Jewish education.