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Jewish World Review Sept. 19, 2000 / 18 Elul, 5760
There he goes again!
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
IN PERHAPS his biggest break from Jewish tradition yet, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the vice presidential candidate and likely the most famous Jew in America, has declared intermarriages between Jews and adherents of other faiths permissible. This, as Jewish institutions of all denominations, from the far-left Reconstructionst to the fervently-Orthodox, are spending tens of millions of dollars on educational programs, innovative projects and other means in an attempt to keep Gen-X and Gen-Y Jews in the fold and prevent Jewry from self-destructing.
Sen. Lieberman, who recently changed his long-time self-description from "Orthodox Jew,"
implying that he fulfills all of the Torah's dictates, to merely "observant" after cyber columnist
Matt Drudge reported he was caught noshing food on the Jewish fast day of Tisha B'Av, made
the declaration Friday on Don Imus' syndicated talk radio show.
Amid a wide-ranging interview, Sen. Liberman was asked by Mr. Imus if Judaism places a ban on "inter-racial or inter-religious marriage or dating or that sort of thing." With
certainty, Sen. Lieberman answered "No, there is no ban whatsoever. Certainly not on
inter-racial. And not on inter-religious." The fact that Jews marry among themselves,
Sen. Lieberman went on to say, stems from a "natural tendency among a lot of Jews, as
there is [among] a lot of Christians, and a lot of ethnic groups" to "marry within, to keep the faith
going."
As could be imagined, the reaction from all segments of organized Jewry was swift.
There is a "clear and irrevocable Torah prohibition" against a Jew intermarrying, Rabbi Avi
Shafran, spokesman for the Orthodox umbrella group, Agudath Israel of America, told
JewishWorldReview.com "It has nothing to do with race, as anyone from any ethnicity can
become a Jew if he or she is sincerely motivated and willing to undergo Halachic conversion."
Even the most devout Jews, for example, are permitted to marry Jewish Ethiopians, or Jewish Yemenites, who have dark complexions.
While the rabbi has defended the senator from religious critics, and still maintains Mr. Lieberman should not be held "responsible to present the image of perfect Jewish observance," because Sen. Lieberman is "running for vice president, not chief rabbi," he nonetheless asserts that with Mr. Lieberman's "new prominence, he must be very concerned not to seriously mislead anyone, Jew or non-Jew, about Jewish religious belief or practice."
Before speaking to issues like the ones he discussed with Mr. Imus, the rabbi added, Sen.
Lieberman "should have had a long and serious talk with his rabbi. He still can, and should."
Sen. Lieberman's rabbi, Barry Freundel of Washington, D.C., was unavailable for comment.
More flustered, was Dr. Mandell Ganchrow of the Union of
Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, on which the senator sits as a board member.
According to Mr. Ganchrow, the senator holds the board position because he engages in
"Kiddush Hashem," or the public sanctification of the Creator's Name. When questioned about
some recent positions the senator has taken that are at odds with Orthodox belief, including
voting against a ban on partial-birth abortion and favoring gay rights, among others, he said
Jews must be "don l'kaf zechus," or give Sen. Lieberman the benefit of the doubt.
Could a board member be removed from the Union's board for inappropraiate conduct? Techically, yes, said Mr. Ganchrow --- if he failed to be re-nominated at the group's next board meeting. In the senator's case, he said, that was "unlikely."
The Union, Mr. Ganchrow said, "does not check its members' tzit-tzis," or ritual fringes, before embracing them. "And we are not to be held responsible for our board members' beliefs or actions."
Likewise surprised, was Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein, executive vice president of the more liberal
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
"I do believe our tradition is quite clear that Jews are expected to marry Jews," the rabbi said
matter of factly. "I'm really not sure of the context or prism [Sen. Lieberman] may have been thinking his
answer through. From my understanding of Halacha [Jewish Law], and even in our movement,
intermarriage is certainly not permitted."
The Conservative movement within Judaism, the rabbi told JewishWorldReview.com, "not only
encourages, but stimulates, marriages between Jews."
The same, the rabbi observed, is true even of secular Jewish groups, such as the Zionist Young Judea.
Sen. Lieberman's position, he said, is "perplexing."
Lieberman: Intermarriage is Kosher
By Binyamin L. Jolkovsky
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky is Editor in Chief of JewishWorldReview.com
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