Letters to the editor December 13
The real December dilemma
[Regarding story, December Dilemma], the only dilemma in December is why the Jewish community worries about what the interfaith families are doing during the holiday season.
Interfaith couples have had to make choices that you did not have to make. You are thinking that they have to choose what is behind Door No. 1, Door No. 2 or Door No. 3. However, they feel that their lives are less constrained, their options are limitless, and they want to make the choices that are best for them. Even young Jews with two Jewish parents are reluctant to commit blindly to the Jewish community and the synagogues of their parents.
That is an opportunity, not a problem! If you want to predict the future, you have to create it yourself.
Do not hide your light under a bushel. Tell the whole world what you are doing, and those unaffiliated Jews will know how vibrant the Jewish community is. We only have to increase our advertising budget.
The purpose of the Jewish community is to help people live Jewish lives. Yes, we need classes in how to prepare a Passover seder or how to make latkes, but don’t be surprised when most of your students are Jews.
Don’t just tolerate gentile spouses, you have to welcome them and make them feel comfortable in the Jewish community. Leviticus 19:30: “And if a stranger sojourn with thee … ye shall do him no wrong … (He) … shall be unto you as the home born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.”
And if you think that is trivial, then consider (Genesis18:1): Four times God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, but Abraham had no children. Then, Abraham welcomed three strangers as honored guests. Only then did Sarah become pregnant with Isaac.
Lee Feldman
Dormont
comments