Intermarraige and Judaism

It appears that Intermarraige is another of those hot topics in Judaism today. There is a comical stereotype played sometimes about Jewish mothers telling their children they have to grow up and meet a nice Jewish boy/girl. It comical because most people know that a Jewpish parent is very adament about meeting a Jewish spouse. And the same goes for grandparents; I know first hand my grandmother asked me after my first year at college if I had met a nice Jewish girl.

Clearly the issue is very important to most of the Jewish faith; the primary way an ethnicity or religion continues is through offspring. Especially with the hardships and crusades against the Jews in history, it is important to carry on the faith. From my observations before we discussed it in class, Intermarriage was for the most part, frowned upon. This position was confirmed during our class discussion. Personally, I do not understand why the issue is met with so much angst. As I presented in class, what is it that Jews are looking for, Quality or Quantity. Clearly the most influential aspect of a child choosing religion is their parents, and a child with two Jewish parents will most likely decide to follow the religion. however, I do not agree that just because both parents aren't Jewish that the end result can't be the same.

For this reason, I am very glad to see the website interfaithfamily.com. It seems like a great place with resources for parents and children from an Intermarriage. On of the hardest aspects of an Intermarriage falls on the child, who at a young age, may have be confused by the difference in beliefs. On the sire, there is a whole page dedicated to "Growing up in a Interfaith family". I think this is a great resource to have, and I only found it after search around for 10 minutes. I think it would be much better to publicize this page on the site more.