Special to WJW

This is the season of election politics. Politicians clamor for our attention and our vote, especially in the race for the president of the United States. But there is also a serious political issue brewing in the Jewish community that requires our immediate attention: the voting rights of intermarried families.

Some institutions have come a long way to granting privileges to those in our midst who are of other religious backgrounds and yet are part of the Jewish community because they are married to or partners with Jews. In many synagogues, these folks are being given more extensive participatory roles where a few years ago they could not even stand on the bima.

Finally, synagogues are realizing that raising Jewish children does give these non-Jews a rightful place in the community. But the right to vote usually remains elusive. There are no halachic, Jewish law, prohibitions here. It is only the institutional culture of fear that is preventing Jewish institutions, particularly synagogues, from granting full voting rights to intermarried families.

Perhaps the fear stems from a historical insularity dating all the way back to the Gnostic period when synagogues feared outsiders slipping in unsuspected and changing the Torah text. So, they added a ritual to the Torah reading ceremony. They opened the Torah and showed it to the people, saying, "This is the Torah that God gave to Moses Š" (Once the Gnostic infiltration became moot, the ritual was maintained, but in the Ashkenazi community, it was moved to the end of the Torah reading.) Some communal leaders reason that if we "circle the wagons," there can be no entry from the outside, no possibility that something of another religion may even be unconsciously insinuated into the Jewish culture of the synagogue.

Some institutions are obviating the difficulty of extending voting rights by considering household memberships ‹ irrespective of the make-up of the individual household. In these cases, each household gets one vote. Why is the issue over voting rights so contentious for intermarried families, particularly the non-Jewish member, in American Jewish institutions?

Given the increase in the number of intermarried families, the role of those of other religious backgrounds in Jewish community organizations and institutions is under discussion in most of those institutions.

We know that intermarried households who have taken on the responsibilities (and expense) of synagogue membership are not interested in changing Judaism or infusing it with other religions. They are there for the same reasons as in-married and single Jewish households: primarily to educate their children Jewishly and also to find a spiritual home and a welcoming community. How can we make sure they are fully welcomed?

Rabbi Brian Beal of Temple Beth Torah in Upper Nyack, N.Y., is quite clear about his position. He writes in his synagogue bulletin: "At Temple Beth Torah, everyone has a vote: Jew and non-Jewish spouse."

If we consider the history of the United States, what really delivers citizenship status to people is voting rights. The Jewish community is not the same as a democratic state, yet that is what gives us more flexibility to make changes. Consider women's suffrage or the civil rights movement. At their core were voting rights. And it wasn't until women or African American citizens were given the right to vote that real equality became a possibility for either group. It is the same with those who come from other faith communities and live in our midst.

Until we offer them full voting rights in our institutions, no matter what we do, they will still be considered ‹ and feel like ‹ second-class citizens. Why not use the season of change that is upon us to make a change that will make the difference in the lives of our community?