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| Seder at the Harrises (Jewish Press) |
First let me state unequivocally that I do not approve of intermarriage between Jews and non Jews (to say the least). It is a violation of one of the cardinal tenets of Judaism. And if the non Jewish partner is the wife, that is the end of the Jewish line for the husband. One might even characterize it as a form of genocide in the sense that – instead of adding to our number generationally (sometimes exponentially) it is instead preventing all of those potential Jewish souls from ever existing. Until recently - intermarriage was frowned upon even by non observant Jews. If a child married out, it was cause for mourning.
This is why it is practically impossible to look at the intermarriage between Vice President Kamela Harris and her Jewish husband, Doug Emhoff, as positive in any way. It should be seen as negative. Especially since our political leaders tend to occasionally be seen as role models. (I recall when JFK became President, it seemed like everyone wanted emulate him!) The last thing we need is to view an intermarried couple in any way as role models for Jewish children. The vast majority of whom are Jewishly ignorant. And as recent polls have shown, most are on their way out of Judaism altogether.
That said, I have to admit that when I see images of Jewish events being celebrated by political figures such as the Vice President, I have mixed feelings.
On the one hand - the idea of a Seder led by an intermarried couple – even though it is in no way Halachic - projects a positive image of an important Jewish ritual to the Jewish masses. Which may influence a lot of Jews on the way out - to retain a bit of their Jewish heritage instead of abandoning every last vestige of it.
On the other hand it also projects a positive image of intermarriage. Which is of course anathema to our core beliefs.
So at the end of the day we have conflicting messages.
For me the price of a positive image like that is too high. But sometimes the facts on the ground get in the way of our ideals. And the fact that the Vice President – a non Jew – is ‘celebrating’ Pesach – highlights it for secular Jews whether we like the way it is being done or not.
To be clear, a Jew with little or no background cannot be blamed for sinning at any level. He would be called a Tinok Shenishbu - a child that was ‘captured’ by non Jews and raised as a gentile with no knowledge of Jewish law or practice. A Tinok Shenishbu includes people that were raised in the ‘captivity’ of the dominant culture without learning any of the fundamentals Judaism.
I don’t know what kind of Jewish education the 2nd Gentleman had. But if I had to guess, I would say he got precious little if any. So that even if he might at some level know that Judaism has a problem with intermarriage, he may not know the how serious a violation it is. In other words, he too is a Tinok Shensishba. And certainly the Vice President can’t be blamed for intermarrying. She was obviously not raised as a Jew.
Bearing all this in mind, it’s hard to judge what the net effect of the Vice President ‘celebrating’ Pesach in her home - is. Not in terms of Halacha or Hashkafa, but in terms of how secular Jews who are currently trending out of Judaism might be impacted. Is the net effect positive or negative? Will it get them to place a modicum of value on their heritage – so that they don’t abandon it altogether and instead eventually pursue more knowledge and at some point perhaps completely embrace their Jewish heritage in its entirety? Or is the fact that it also places a positive image and tends to legitimize intermarriage so bad that the any gain is lost in the process?
