Jewish Intermarriage in America, Article Critique Example

Society defines intermarriage as the conscious decision to choose an individual from another social, racial, ethnic or cultural background than one’s one as a partner. Intermarriage can also occur across religious lines. As a consequence of this mixing, intermarriage has a profound effect on how the resulting offspring are raised and the cultural/religious background that the child associates with when they mature. Emerging from the violence of the 20^th century, Jewish individuals in contemporary America must consider what duty they owe to their religious and cultural background in raising a family. While Goldscheider (2003) puts forward the close-minded argument that to preserve the Jewish people we must only marry within the religion, this paper will argue that intermarriage is an overall benefit to the Jewish people, the culmination of the Zionist ideal and encompasses the best attributes of what it means to be Jewish.

For millennia, Jews have been distinguished from other nations by their unique cosmopolitan and educated nature. By being spread across the world, the Jewish people were exposed to countless cultures and ideas which strengthened Judaism. This unique cultural mixing helps explain why Jewish intellectuals played such a major role in the intellectual and scientific breakthroughs of the last few centuries. In relation to intermarriage, the mixing of Jewish identity with that of the larger American society will serve to enrich both cultures as seen in Islamic Spain or during the European Enlightenment. Rather than a source of shame, prominent and successful Jews in American society should be admired up to and praised rather than the reclusive and close-minded yeshiva student who does not venture out of his like-minded community. This brings up to the question of what is the model Jew in modern society.

For anyone who has read Theodor Herzl’s Altneuland or Der Judenstaat the original vision of Zionism was for the Jewish people to escape persecution by removing themselves from anti-Semitism by adopting nineteenth century notions of nationalism. Therefore, the Jews in Herzl’s Jewish state would be like the Hungarians in the Hungarian state and no longer a special group exposed to unique persecution. In short, one can view the assimilation of Jews in America as merely a normalization of our condition and therefore the culmination of Herzl’s ideal. While our Jewish brothers in Israel are forced to make morally troubling political decisions while ruling over a turbulent Palestinian population and fear for their continued existence in a dangerous region, it is the Jews in America who have truly realized Herzl’s dream of normalization free from the historical burden of persecution and violence.

In conclusion, narrow-minded critics of intermarriage such as Goldscheider have their heads in the sand. Rather than yearning for the illusory past safety of the ghetto community or the militarized machismo of Israel, the true future and continued security and prosperity of the Jewish people lies in America. By giving the sum of our talents and ambitions to this unique and welcoming country, the Jewish people will realize their centuries-long dream of living a normal life free from violence or persecution and be granted the freedom to define their identity as they choose not as society dictates. Intermarriage strengthens and deepens both Jewish cultural identity and our abiding presence in America’s future.