UBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" Expert tells MKs: We have 15 years to fight assimilation -- Tue, Dec 7, 2010       30 Kislev, 5771       --         Breaking News Diplomacy & Politics Defense National News Middle East International Iranian Threat Trade Sports Sci-Tech idea Columnists Editorials Op-Eds Letters Jewish World Jewish News Jewish Features Judaism Cafe Oleh Lifestyle Arts & Culture Food & Wine go Health Features Insights & Features Week in review Blogs In the news Judaism From the Middle East Lifestyle Aliyah Science and Technology Premium Zone The Jerusalem Report run 20 Questions e-paper Ivrit Magazine Metro In Jerusalem Christian Edition My JPost Subscription Center Newsletter RSS feeds News Ticker Facebook Twitter Classifieds Français More Services JPost Store JPost Games Israel Hotels Vacation Rentals Green Israel Car Rentals Learn Hebrew Israel Guide Links Perform Miracles JP daily e-paper לימוד אנגלית Astrology Sitemap      Breaking News     JPost.com Jewish World Jewish News   .large_body p, .large_body span { font-size: 18px; } .small_body p, .small_body span { font-size: 12px; } Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski Expert tells MKs: We have 15 years to fight assimilation By GIL SHEFLER  11/16/2010 04:25 55% intermarriage does not mean 55% assimilation, counters Reform chief; Maimon says Israel needs to act now before it's too late. Talkbacks (24)   “We have 15 years to intervene and bring back people on the verge of assimilation into the fold of Judaism,” Dov Maimon, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, stated at a unique session on assimilation in the Diaspora at the Knesset on Monday.Speaking to the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Commission, Maimon said Israel needs to act now if it wants to engage the large group of young Jews whose affiliation with their populations is weak before it’s too late.RELATED:Rabbis to bypass recalcitrant marriage registrars ‘Third way’ to Jewish marriage Civil unions law to be implemented next week He suggested a fivefold program supporting Israel trips like Masa and Birthright, strengthening Jewish education in Israel and abroad, and even rethinking Israeli foreign policy. “It’s hard identifying as Jewish at colleges in Europe,” Maimon said. “Israel isn’t perceived as an enlightened state, yet that’s perhaps an issue outside our scope of conversation today.” Committee chairman Danny Danon (Likud) convened the panel to discuss ways of dealing with the threat. Prof. Sergio DellaPergola, an authority on Jewish demographics, opened the debate by giving some background. “Assimilation is a long process that dates back to the emancipation of the Jews,” he said. “According to a study from the first portion of the decade, approximately 40 percent of Jews in the Diaspora marry outside the faith nowadays.” DellaPergola said that the number of Jews in the world is currently stable at a bit over 13 million, with 6 million in Israel and about 7.5 million abroad. However the number of people with Jewish ancestry is much larger than that, he said. “The number of Americans eligible to create aliya according to the Law of Return is among10 to 12 million people,” the Hebrew University lecturer said. “That’s not to say that I think they’ll display up tomorrow morning. But this is a group that should not be entirely ignored.” Rabbi Gilad Kariv, head of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, the Israeli branch of the Reform movement, warned against alienating the children of mixed marriages. “We need to be careful when we process the numbers,” he said. “To the best of my knowledge, and I’m not an expert on this issue, there may be 55% of marriages between Jews and non-Jews, but that does not mean there’s a 55% assimilation rate and that households in this group are torn away from the Jewish people. The key question is how we treat this phenomenon.” He strongly rejected the notion that assimilation was substantially higher in communities where Reform Judaism is practiced in comparison with Orthodox ones. “There are communities where there are almost no Reform or Conservative Jews and, nonetheless, assimilation rates of young Jews is in the high double digits and many marry outside the religion,” Kariv said. “In France there’s almost no Reform Judaism, and a very strong Orthodox establishment. But isn’t there still a 45% mixed marriage rate there?” Kariv urged authorities to institute faster conversions and carry out a more inclusive policy toward the children of mixed marriages, lest they be lost. MK Marina Solodkin of Kadima, a member of the Knesset committee, weighed in with her opinion on the issue. “In Russian there’s a saying that I haven’t heard in any other language and is very necessary: ‘Half a Jew is still a Jew,” she said.   Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive news updates directly to your email     Tweet         Talkback Add a Talkback Report Abuse Read all Talkbacks 24. Israel Has Intermarried Families Author:   Robin Margolis Country:   USA11/22/2010   22:45As the Coordinator of the Half-Jewish Network, for adult children of intermarriage, I must point out that Israel should take off its own negative laws and policies against Israeli interfaith families, instead of also attacking those families in the Diaspora.

23. #22 Intermarried Mike Author:   Avrohom Country:   Israel11/18/2010   04:05Mike, once again you prove my point. Your perspective has nithing to do with Torah or Judaism. We do not live in decree to assimilate, as you propose and support. Your views are anti-Torah. Assimilation is darkness, not enlightenment. Your main difficulty is you have no real exposure to Torah. Your world and ideas are founded on fake pretenses. Witherin numbers are, frist, not accurate, and second, not a primary issue in a real Jewish thought and perspective. If you or th author think otherwise, it is simply a result of assimilation itself.

22. #20 Avrahom Author:   Intermarried-Mike Country:   USA11/17/2010   23:37The article was not about the withering of Torah or Judaism. It was about the withering of Jewish numbers via accelerating patterns of assimilation. Obviously the author and his peers find the Jewish population statistics disturbing. I was staying on topic. The fact is that in this easy "opt-in" / "opt-out" world, particularism, especially in the diaspora, cannot compete with post-enlightenment universalism. The bridge-builders increase their size at the expense of the fence-builders. This is the zeitgeist of the times. "Stick-to-your-own-kind" is losing. I am not sad. Less future wars.

21. #20 Avrahom Author:   Intermarried-Mike Country:   USA11/17/2010   23:09The article was not about the withering of Torah or Judaism. It was about the withering of Jewish numbers via accelerating patterns of assimilation. Obviously the author and his peers find the Jewish population statistics disturbing. I was staying on topic. The fact is that in this easy "opt-in" / "opt-out" world, particularism, especially in the diaspora, cannot compete with post-enlightenment universalism. The bridge-builders increase their size at the expense of the fence-builders. This is the zeitgeist of the times. "Stick-to-your-own-kind" is losing. I am not sad. Less future wars.

20. #14 Intermarried Mike Author:   Avrohom Country:   Israel11/17/2010   15:23Your post is spoken from a perspective that is not connected to Torah or Judaism at all. Jews lived and live as we do since it is the way to live. In your world, man is central. In the real world, man is created. Your perspective is the no different than the wayword ideas that drop out of favor and dissappear from throughout history. Torah and judaism do not whither. Rather it continues to burn brightly against all odds, if those odds were man made. They aren't.

19. Re: picky jewish women Author:   Brian Country:   Canada11/17/2010   07:50Brett, you don't have to be rich or dashingly handsome to marry a excellent Jewish woman. I know it's hard out there, and people in the dating scene are often quick to judge others negatively or superficially. Make an action plot, have confidence and be patient. Your time will approach. Best of luck to you.

18. Picky Jewish women Author:   Brett Country:   USA11/16/2010   22:41I am a Jewish male who would like to marry Jewish, but I am not rich or dashingly handsome. I have found that 30-something Jewish women are the pickest, shallowest and most entitled type of women I have ever met. I would like to stay with my tribe and continue the nation of Israel -- that is my choice -- but I feel like my tribe is not open to choosing me.

17. Assimilation Author:   Ben Country:   USA11/16/2010   21:15The authors arguments are ridiculous. Of course the assimilation rate is higher amongst reform and re constructionist Jews. There are always noteworthy converts that follow the path of Ruth but you CANNOT force people to become Jewish. We are not an apostate religion. If someone has a Jewish soul let them come back to Judaism but seeking these people out is a terrible idea. Then we are no different than preachers bringing people who do not care about Judaism back to their faith almost against their will.

16. #11 Unknown Author:   Avrohom Country:   Israel11/16/2010   21:10Where did you learn that an target of Judaism is to grow in number? You will not find that anywhere in Torah. We have no need to be like the gentiles who find their strength in numbers. Our multitudes will be an outcome, not an objective. We have no need to actively seek converts, and we are directed to not do so. We learn how to conduct our lives from Torah not from gentiles.

15. Who needs intermarriage Author:   Avrohom Country:   Israel11/16/2010   21:00Reform itself represents assimilation. Intermarriage just pushes it alon further and blurs the lines for the children who may be subjected to the truth when they want to return to real Torah and Judaism.

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