Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-12
RABB|S CUT DEBATE
Two Papers and One Speech
on Mixed Marriages.
PRECEDENTS IN HISTORY
Prof. Feldman Says Religion, Not
Race, Is Only Objection.
VIEWS OF SAMUEL SCHULMAN
Acceptance Of Jewish Faith Only
Demand of synagogue-No Posi-
BILE Check, Says DR.. Moses.
PRECEDENTS IN HISTORY
VIEWS OF SAMUEL sCHULMAN

NEW YORK, November 12-Intermar-
rage between Jews and members OF other
races. though sanctioned from racial
point Of view, both historically and re-
.:siously, was opposed on religious
grounds at the session of the Central
Conference OF American Rabbits at Tenn
pie EMANUEL, 43d street and 9TH avenue.
Without conversion OF both parties to
the Jewish religion, il was maintained,
mixed marriages were contrary to the
highest Jewish ideal of marriage and de-
structive Of Jewish religious integrity and
religious distinctiveness
Intermarriage in History.
The first paper, by Prof Ephraim Field
man of the Hebrew Union College of
Cincinnati. treating intermarriage from
the historical standpoint, was read by
Rabb! Nathan Krass of Rochester, y. Y.
Objection to intermarriage, Prof. Field
man set forth, is not exclusively Jew
lsh problem. but has appeared through
out history among all peoples
That which underlies this seciusiVeness
among peoples, he declared. was not diff
ference of race, but of religion, difference
IN mans conception of his relation 10
God. :.
prove an chronological cutio. but there
would be no merit lin its purity In the
case of the Jews, history completely de-
stroys this theory or racial purity.
-Four out Of the twelve sons or JACOB
had as their mothers non-Jewish women,
and for 1000 years after the exodus one
third of the population OF Israel was OF
mixed blood. Israel itself, however. con-
tributed the psychic elements In this pny-
steal mixture strong enough to mold the
whole
Prof Feldman described the widespread
proselytism to Judaism among the Greeks
and Romans, which. he said, would have
been impossible had there been a racial
and not merely a religious antipathy TO
intermarriage. At the present time above
all, he said, when the external differences
between Jews and non-Jews have been
reduced to a minimum, intermarriage has
ideal of Jewish religious distinction and
a Jewish mission among the nations. he
said. would alone be able to check inter-
marriage.
Marriage and Religion.
\ paper on MIXED Marriage in
Their Relation to the Jewish Religion"
was read by the Rev. DIR. Samuel Schulz
man. rabbi of Temple Bethel of this
city DR.. Schulman defined mixed mar
riages as marriages between Jews and
phasis on religion and not on race. The
synagogue for centuries. he said, had not
opposed intertribal or interracial mar
riages but uniformly those between Jews
and unconverted members of other reli-
gions.
1T is exclusively religious question. -
he said. Can the Jewish religion, even
as interpreted by reform Judaism, sane
ton marriage between Jews and persons
OF other religions?
n m
valid. for since the destruction of the
Jewish state the civil and political as
pect has ceased to be part of Judaism.
For us, the law of the country is binding.
ut were desirable, however, that per-
sons of unlike faiths wishing to marry
should apply to the civil authorities, and
not ask a representative of a religion
to officiate whose officiating must needs
he imperfect.
.I cannot emphasize too strongly the
to the people of any race or inherited
creed because OF their past. 1t requires
only the acceptance of the Jewish re-
ligion. In this, Ii assumes more or less
Professionalism.
Basis for Scriptural Opposition.
THE Scriptures. which show all men
descended FROM one pair and one human
ity created in the image of God. exclude
any pretensions to aristocracy of blood
All scriptural opposition to mixed mar
riages is based on the fear lest such
marriage turn away the son or daughter
Of Israel from the true religion
THE ideal marriage, however, requires
harmony and unanimity--above all in re-
ligiOn-that the union be not merely phys
ical. but moral and spiritual as we'll
There can be no complete unity between
two people who hold with serious con-
viction different views Of religion.
Mixed marriages are to be prohibited
also from the point Of view of the in
tegrity of Judaism as a religion, the point
Of view OF the safety of minority such
as Israel forms among the nations. There
can be no question that IL the synagogue
used its moral authority to allow such
il would, as Einhorn said be
nail into the coffin of the
Jewish race with its sublime mission
emphasize the sublime mission more than
the race.
LAS for the argument that the Christian
or the Christian DESTROYS OF
with a Jew is no longer a true
II Is absurd to intimate that
there is no real vital difference between