I thoroughly enjoyed reading through the fieldwork assignment interviews merely because I learned so much from them. One of the discussion topics that really caught my attention was the talk of interfaith marriages. I also remember talking about Jewish appearance and ancestry in class. I am particularly interested in this topic because I am the product of an interfaith marriage. My mother is an Irish Catholic and my father is Jewish.

I was very surprised to read through the interviews and see how many people were opposed to marrying outside of the Jewish faith. I never considered the topic much because it has never been a concern for me. However, I think the most interesting aspect of these discussions was the reasoning behind keeping marriages between people of Jewish faith.

Many of the interviewees were questioned about potential life partners and the importance of their religious beliefs. An overwhelming number of young participants said they could not see themselves marrying outside the Jewish religion. One participant even said that if she were to fall in love with someone who was not Jewish she would expect him to convert. Even some of the participants who were older mentioned being opposed to interfaith marriage, not just for themselves, but also for Jewish people throughout the world. I posed this question of interfaith marriage to one of my participants. My eighteen-year old friend agreed with the majority of those who were interviewed. She said that she does not plan on marrying someone who is not Jewish. Her mother has always told her, “Be sure you find yourself a nice Jewish boy one day”.

Lowenstein’s chapter on appearance and ancestry provided insight into the reasoning behind marrying within the Jewish people. The fear of converts after the rise of Christianity and Islam in areas predominantly populated by Jews was something I knew nothing about. Separation from these other religions led to communities almost entirely populated by born Jews (Lowenstein, 225). There has been much evidence, however, to suggest that the Jewish population has never been completely devoid of the gene pool of the outside world.

I thought this would be an interesting matter for me to comment on simply because this is a topic that, although it directly applies to me as a product of an interfaith marriage, it is not something I have ever thought much about. Also, I would say about half of the families (maybe more) who belong to my temple are interfaith couples. All of this opposition to marrying outside of Judaism was something that surprised me and really opened my eyes to a new aspect of my religion that I was unaware existed.

When interviewing for the fieldwork assignment, and again when reading others’ interviews, I couldn’t help but notice how much emphasis was put on fervent protection of and preservation of “Jewishness.”  Several interviewees mentioned interfaith marriage, and the majority adamantly opposed the idea. Since conducting the fieldwork, I have found that these themes continue far beyond these fifty-some individuals.  Throughout Jewish history and geography, the focus of boundaries and acculturation that is so prevalent in this class is all further evidence of the fear many Jews seem to have of “losing” Judaism – either altogether, or as a result of dilution and reformation of Judaism as they know it.

I addressed this topic briefly in my fieldwork paper, but I wanted to explore this idea a little bit further. The first question that came to my mind was why this almost possessive attitude is more associated with Judaism as opposed to some other religions. There seems to be much more conflict between Jews as to what “officially” qualifies as a Jew, whereas Christians often go to greater lengths to include EVERYONE in their religion (through proselytism, etc.) without much consideration of blood lines. One obvious reason might be the frequency of discrimination in Jewish history. Strictly defining the Jewish identity as distinguished from other religions and cultures is a strategy of defense – not only does it generally separate Jews from potential threats from outside cultures, but it unifies them as a collective entity. Conceivably, opposing opinions of two groups of Jewish identity (for example, orthodox vs. reform), especially when involving marriage, could weaken Judaism or even tear it apart.

However, I find it interesting that even with such a logical argument – unification of ideas means unification of cultural identity, which means unification of a people and therefore protection against other groups – Jews are also typically associated with the diversity of outlook implied in the saying “two Jews, three opinions.” The problem with the common orthodox and conservative emphasis on unity by way of determining “what is Jewish” is that you cannot decide for someone else what they are or are not. In class, when discussing what defines Judaism as a culture, Professor Staub pointed out that the beginnings of Judaism initiated by Abraham really did not follow any of the traditional definitions of culture; the only real differentiation between Abraham’s beliefs and the beliefs of his surrounding culture was that he was monotheistic, whereas his hometown of Ur was polytheistic at the time. Essentially, Judaism is a culture set apart from others mainly because Jews view themselves as such. So it seems counterintuitive for members of a culture or religion that is defined so internally to place judgments on others who consider themselves a part of that culture or religion. Therefore, when those Jews who reject people who define themselves as Jews, they are actually destroying the trust and unity that could otherwise protect Judaism as a faith and as a culture.