A few ground rules before discussing the issue of intermarriage from a Torah perspective. While some of these may seem obvious to many (perhaps most) readers, too many people address this subject without any proper Jewish reference points. The premises are often devoid of any true Torah perspective, and are often based on one’s personal emotional identification as a Jew:
• The Jewish ban on intermarriage has nothing to do with racism, nonsensical notions of “Jewish blood”, or the superiority of Jewish genetics. Nor is it anti-gentile. It is an entirely halachic matter whose sole purpose is to preserve halachic Judaism and perpetuate our holy tenets for future generations.
• The halachic ban on intermarriage applies to gentiles. Genuine converts to Judaism are as Jewish as any Jew who was born into the tradition. They are no longer gentiles. Those who fail to recognize this are negating an important aspect of the tradition. But it is imperative to bear in mind that conversion must be performed according to Halacha. As such, for the Torah observant Jew, a Reform or Conservative conversion cannot be accepted, since the movements do not adhere to or believe in acceptable halachic standards. On this critical point, there can be no compromise, if Judaism is to survive.
• While Jews who identify with the Reform, Conservative, and other movements are apt to react negatively to any “Orthodox” position that deems their definitions of Judaism as contrary to Halacha; Jews who believe the Torah to be divine cannot play games with Halacha. Those who choose to alter halachic concepts cannot expect those who see such a process as heretical, to react any other way. Halachic Jews view all non-halachic definitions of Judaism as representing the death of our tradition.
Halachic Judaism vs. Lenny Bruce Judaism
Being that the Halacha is what kept Am Yisroel Jewish throughout the exile, it is tragic that Israel’s “Law of Return” is such a fundamentally anti-Jewish one at odds with Jewish tenets. This flawed law seeks to inflate the numbers of non-Arabs in the country, even if Judaism suffers in the process; and it surely does. For the Torah committed Jew, the halachic definition of who is a Jew is matrilineal, based on the criteria that was codified as Jewish law long ago by the preeminent decisors of Jewish law. Any other interpretation by definition denies this ancient safeguard and immediately endangers the perpetuation of our Jewish beliefs.
Many liberal Jews (I have even heard Torah observant Jews utter such lunacy) believe that since many non-Jews were also killed by Hitler (who identified them as Jews even though they were not Jewish), then Israel should adopt a more flexible interpretation of who is a Jew. As they see it, “if it was good enough for Hitler…” This is a skewed and sick way of thinking. As sad as this historical fact may be, Adolph Hitler (yemach shmo) doesn’t define for us who is a Jew. And an Israeli law that allows untold numbers of non-Jews into Israel as Jews, is destroying the Jewish people by inviting the diaspora’s assimilation problem into the country. Many of today’s olim are practicing Christians, and more than a few are actual missionaries committed to bringing Jews to Jesus.
Lenny Bruce was a brilliant, albeit profane, Jewish comedian who had his pulse on the tragic, neurotic, American Jew. He himself was a sad and depressing man who was so alienated and strained from his own faith, despite his tragically funny observations. He had a routine which took different ethnic groups, foods, and items and classified them as either “Jewish or goyish.” Thus, Italians were Jewish, as were blacks; The Irish were certainly goyish. White bread was goyish; Rye Bread was Jewish. Red Jello was Jewish; Lemon Jello was very goyish. You get the point. Naturally, a definition of Judaism based on such socio-cultural references will only breed a generation of more Lenny Bruces. True Judaism has halacha and without that, we have the death of the Jewish soul.