Intermarriage Concerns

As interfaith marriage increases among Jews, missionaries are increasingly targeting these individuals and families for conversion.Jews for Judaism's Two Roads One Path program addresses the needs and special special circumstances of the interfaith marriage. Two Roads One Path is a non-judgmental service offering guidance and information for couples and individuals involved in interfaith relationships.

 

Finding Shared Values for Interfaith Couples: Two Roads One Path

Having long been the pet peeve of the Jewish community, intermarriage is approaching a stage of near fait au complait social acceptance.

Though interfaith unions have been an ever-increasing reality of Jewish life for decades, there has always been a feeling of  disapproval and rejection associated with them. Today, aided partially by a significant number of Jewish clergy condoning these marriages by actually performing them, attitudes have changed to virtual acceptance.

Facing this challenge, Jews for Judaism has an innovative approach to interfaith marriages - reaching out. Whether the individual is the Jewish or non-Jewish partner in an interfaith marriage, Two Roads One Path is a non-judgmental service offering guidance and information for them. The TwoRoadsOnePath.com website is a major tool that guides the seeker with stimulating essays and interactive learning.

The Two Roads Seminar brings together couples and individuals involved in interfaith relationships for workshops and discussion sessions.

Another component of the website is the Issues Forum. In a sense, it serves as a reminder to these couples that they are “taking the road less traveled” and that road is filled with pitfalls and stumbling blocks. Given the somber reality of a spiraling divorce rate, and general discontent with marriage, we speak to vital issues that most couples will face sometime in their married lives.

Consider the following response to our Forum question, among dozens, submitted by a visitor to the Two Roads One Path website:

Freely choosing “God’s best” is not so simple unless the parents have shared values. Our Two Roads counseling experience has shown that even couples who otherwise profess great love for one another cannot avoid the dual loyalty conundrum.

Even those who, while courting a mate as a 20-somethinger, truly cared less about the religion they were born into, at some time down the road may begin thinking about it, particularly when children are a factor. How to solve the December Dilemma suddenly becomes a major concern.

The tendency for some has been to seek a convenient Solomonic compromise - to become a Hebrew-Christian. Ask a typical 8-year-old what that means, and I doubt you will get a coherent answer. In his, not yet tainted, objective mind he will conclude that the basis of Judaism and Christianity are two disparate entities. One is based on an unbroken Sinatic tradition of mitzvah - observance, while the other professes a substitution of that system through embracing Jesus and the concept of grace. In general, it’s “Deed versus Creed.” One cannot be “both.”

This last issue is what spawned the development of the Two Roads concept and website. We reasoned that many Jewish partners in an interfaith relationship were searching for a way that they could connect to their Jewish roots and traditions without watering it down or capitulating a witnessing campaign that targets them to basically accept a Christian lifestyle. They are concerned as to how they fit into the Jewish community. Our goal has been to demonstrate that Torah Judaism addresses the needs of both Jews and non-Jews. While the ideal would be for them to travel identical paths, our hope is that the Jew will discover the beauty of his/her Jewish roots and understand its intrinsic dichotomy with Christianity. The non-Jew, on the other hand, will come to the recognition that Judaism does not “condemn” a non-observer to some dire fate of perdition, but that he/she can embrace the basic universal Noahide Code of living and find favor before God. These concepts, and more, are clearly articulated on the website.

Please visit www.TwoRoadsOnePath.com www.TwoRoadsOnePath.com for more information.