SAN DIEGO ‹ Rabbi Deborah Bravo of Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, N.J., went through plenty of placement interviews after her 1998 ordination as a Reform rabbi. Everywhere, she got the same question: not about her attitude toward homosexuality, not whether she wore a kippah and tallit, but whether she would officiate at an intermarriage.

"It has become the litmus test for placement," Bravo said in San Diego at this month's annual convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform movement's rabbinical association.

Rabbi Jerome Davidson of Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, N.Y., a member of the conference's ad-hoc committee on intermarriage, hoped to introduce a resolution at the convention calling on the group to condone rabbis performing intermarriages, as long as the non-Jewish partner doesn't practice another faith and the couple is open to leading a Jewish life. That's the standard required by most Reform rabbis that perform mixed marriages.

Knowing it was still too controversial to pass easily, however, Davidson and his colleagues put off a resolution until the conference's next convention, next March.

Even then, it will be a tough sell. Still, the issue undeniably is heating up.

Unlike their Orthodox and Conservative colleagues, who are not permitted to perform intermarriages, Reform rabbis are discouraged, but not forbidden, from doing so. A 1973 conference resolution declares the group's opposition to members taking part in any ceremony that solemnizes a mixed marriage, but the resolution doesn't bind rabbis to that policy.

Consequently, Reform rabbis ‹ as well as Reconstructionist, Humanist and unaffiliated rabbis ‹ must decide on an individual basis whether they will perform intermarriages. Many say it's one of their most difficult decisions.

Rabbi Marcus Burstein of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church says that the question of intermarriage has long worried Reform rabbis.

"It's one of the most difficult questions a rabbi has to answer when meeting with Jews in the community," said Burstein, who attended the conference in California.

"No" is not a popular answer in today's Reform congregations, Reform rabbis say. Though there aren't hard numbers, it's estimated that about half say yes.

Rabbi Mindy Portnoy of Temple Sinai in Washington, D.C., who also was at the conference, backs the Reform movement's policy of allowing rabbis to make decisions individually regarding mixed marriages.

Portnoy, who herself does not officiate at mixed marriages, understands that congregations risk alienating members by refusing to perform the service, but views refusal as her rabbinic duty.

"It has nothing to do with me as a person, it's my role as a rabbi," said Portnoy. "Everyone draws a different line at what they are comfortable with."

Local rabbis who attended the CCAR convention reported varying levels of debate on intermarriage.

Rabbi Shoshana Nyer of Fairfax's Temple B'nai Shalom saw intermarriage come up at only one session. But Burstein found intermarriage "very notable, with panels and presenters."

Portnoy, like Nyer, found that mixed marriages took a backseat to other subjects, such as the new Reform prayer book, Mishkan T'Filah.

Yet, with the number of mixed marriages exploding in recent years, she believes it is an issue that will have a great impact on all of Judaism.

"It's not just an issue for the Reform movement, but an issue for everybody," Portnoy said.

Burstein sees the dilemma growing more intense before it is resolved.

"I think it's going to get more vocal and more challenging. Many of our congregants are marrying non-Jews and want rabbis to perform those ceremonies," he said.