Big Tent Judaism

The Policy on Attending an Interfaith Wedding

If a Conservative rabbi is invited to an interfaith wedding – as a guest, not as an officiant – should he or she be able to attend? According to the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative movement’s rabbinical organization, the answer is no. Even attending such an event, or the reception, might give implicit approval to the relationship. This particular scenario is becoming more commonplace, and it recently occurred in a very public way when Arnold Eisen, Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, went to the wedding reception of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky. Even though he’s not a rabbi, he is the public face of Conservative Judaism, and many in the movement disagreed with his decision to attend.

Some Conservative rabbis, like Rabbi Jason Miller (who sits on JOI’s Board of Professional Advisors), believe this policy of banning attendance should be rescinded.

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Redefining Jewish Identity for the 21st Century

It’s a question that has been asked over and over again for as long as Judaism has been a religion – who is a Jew? The answer is elusive, nearly impossible to pin down as Jews have settled in every corner of the globe and put down roots among various cultures and communities. As our diversity has grown over the millennia to include Jews and Jewish families of all types of backgrounds, our Big Tent has ably expanded to include nearly all those in our midst. But too many are still left on the periphery, so the guidelines that traditionally define who is a Jew, writes JOI associate executive director Paul Golin in the Huffington Post, “must be expanded if the Jewish community — particularly the American Jewish community — is to remain relevant well into the 21st century.â€�

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