The Conservative Movement is really struggling with this one. They've tried opposing it. No Conservative rabbi will officiate at a wedding between a Jew and a non-Jew, and officially, according to a responsum issued by United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism about eight years ago, an intermarried Jew may not serve as rabbi, cantor, or elected board member of an American Conservative synagogue.
Meanwhile, however, they're discovering that this approach isn't working. The fact is that the rate of intermarriage among American Jews is approaching 50%. Conservative synagogues today have a significant subset of intermarried members who are creating Jewish homes with their spouses who aren't about to convert, and a larger subset of potential members who might join if they felt that, as intermarried couples, they'd be more welcome. So the Conservative movement is now attempting various sorts of outreach to intermarrieds. To date, I don't see that the mindset has really changed much yet. The non-Jewish partner probably feels less pressure to convert than perhaps ten years ago, but in most cases, s/he still isn't a voting member. Needless to say, a non-Jew is not called for Torah-honors, and in some Conservative synagogues, isn't allowed on the bima. The Conservative movement still adheres to Halacha in that the children are Jewish only by matrilineal descent or, if the father is the Jewish parent, they must go through a conversion process.
Based on the history of how the Conservative movement wrestled with the issue of gender equality in the last decades of the twentieth century, and finally made peace with it, I feel there is every reason to hope and expect that this current state of ambivalence in the Conservative movement will eventually resolve in favor of a more consistently receptive attitude towards Jews who are intermarried but still committed to living a Jewish life. Check back again in about ten years!
2007-11-29 17:23:30
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answer #1
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answered by SheyneinNH 7
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Conservative Jews are against it and no conservative rabbi will marry a Jew to a Non Jew.
2007-11-28 20:17:45
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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They're fundamentally against it though I don't know their real attitudes.
The reason for my answering is because Judaism actually exists in many areas; Europe, Russia, China & Africa. And by that I mean it's in those races. It had to have gotten there somehow. I think occasional intermarriage is how Judaism spread around the world.
2007-11-27 13:39:03
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answer #3
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answered by whitetop94538 2
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They usually perform conversions for marriage. However, that's not the proper way to convert, a person who truly desires to become jewish must do it for the sake of the mitzvos.
2007-11-28 10:31:20
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answer #4
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answered by Chmou 4
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In conservative Jewish faith, they pretend you are dead if you marry a gentile.
In the Muslim faith, they really kill you (that is if you're a woman).
2007-11-27 13:41:12
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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Probably against it!
2007-11-27 13:32:04
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answer #6
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answered by Wounded Duck 7
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