The United Synagogue Youth board’s decision to lift the ban on its board members’ dating outside the faith raises many questions.
First and foremost: What is the origin of the values reflected in this decision? Those of the teenagers or those of their parents?
One USY member who had considered running for her region’s board dropped the idea when she learned of the ban (now rescinded). She said: “It disappointed me a lot that I had to give up that opportunity [to run for the USY regional board] because of my secular life.”
This USY member went on to say: “Obviously people who are active in USY are people who are passionate about their Judaism. . . . if we choose in our secular life to date someone who is not of the Jewish religion, I don’t see why there should be limitations within USY.”
Comment via the IJN blog posting, Short-term solutions for long-term problems
Question: Is it possible to be “passionate about Judaism” and also “choose in our secular life to date someone who is not of the Jewish religion?”
Is Judaism an organic whole, or only one compartment in life, coexisting alongside another compartment, one’s secular life?
If Jewish and secular life are, in fact, compartmentalized, which compartment is the most compelling? Is sacrificing something for Judaism or Jewish life possible, and advisable?
The decision to rescind the interfaith dating ban for USY officers was that of the USY teenagers, but the leaders of the Conservative movement had their say. Rabbi Steven Wernick, CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said the policy change does not reflect a change in USY’s values. “It continues to recognize what we know to be true: encouraging Jews to marry other Jews is the most successful path toward creating committed Jewish homes,” Wernick said in a statement.
He went on, “At the same time, we can’t put our heads in the sand about the fact that we live in an incredibly free society, where even committed Jews will marry outside the faith.”
Question: Is Wernick’s head in the sand when he asserts that approval to date outside the faith does not reflect a change in USY’s values? If this is not a change, what is a change?
Nationally, over the past two decades, the Conservative movement has hemorrhaged synagogues and members. It was once the most populous branch of American Judaism. It is, by all the population surveys, a shadow of its former self. Will Rabbi Wernick’s approach, defining “committed Jewish homes” as both intrafaith and interfaith, reverse that trend?
Rabbi Daniel Levy, the professional director of USY and director of teen learning at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said: “While we maintain the value that dating within the faith is key to a sustainable Jewish future, we want to be positive and welcoming to USYers, many of whom are from interfaith families.”
Question: Is welcoming teenagers from interfaith families the same thing as approving of interfaith dating?
Interfaith marriage is after the fact. Interfaith dating is before the fact. Is “a sustainable Jewish future” possible not only if interfaith marriage is accepted after the fact, but also if the precursor of interfaith marriage, namely, interfaith dating, is just as accepted before the fact?
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
