Contemporary+Issues

Contemporary Issues:


 * Interfaith Marriage: **

A contemporary issue of Judaism is when a Jew marrys a non-Jew. A belief of judaism is that the Jewish religion is transfered from mother to child.Therefore, if the male partner is Jewish and the female is of a different religion then his child won't be a Jew too. This can cause problems with clergy, the parents of the Jewish spouse, and ,if they are planning to have children, the raising of their kids. Clergy can be a problem because most rabbis or the Jewish religious leaders, refuse to participate in interfaith marriage. Interfaith marriage is when 2 people of different religions get married. This is an issue because rabbis will argue that being fine with interfaith marriage could eventually become a threat to the Jews in North America. They argue that even if the spouse converts to Judaism it could still make Judaism no longer exist so they refuse to participate. The parents of the Jewish partner will usually be very against it also. They think that it will be a threat to their families stability. This is because they want the children to be Jewish also and if their child is a male it is against the beliefs unless the child converts. This is become more popular because interfaith marriage is skyrocketing. It rose from 6% in the 1960s to 60% in the 1990s. With the large rate of interfaith marriage there is also the issue of raising their children. Rabbis say that the children will grow up unhappy and confused but parents believe otherwise.They say that they will grow up torn between 2 cultures and feel almost as if they have no roots. However, others say that the confusion is made by poor teachings from the parents and if they raise the child right then there will be no confusion as to what their religion is. []

The main reason why people stereotype about Jews is that they don't fully understand the religion. People of other faiths make immpressions based on what they hear, and not what is true. This is a large issue because if it came to an important decision that could effect many people, the wrong decision could be made based on the religion of the people you are deciding between. An example could be electing the president or another government official. Many think that to be a Jew you must follow the Jewish laws or the ten Commandments strictly and fully. However, there are different groups or Movements of Judaism that say otherwise. Some movements are made up of people that follow the Commandments strictly and others say that Judaism can evolve as its practicers do. This means that not all Jews are extremists of the religion. Another common stereotype is that Judaism is a religion only practiced by whites and blacks cannot be of the Jewish faith. This couldn't be more false, Judaism is practiced all over the world and by people of all different races. Your skin color doesn't matter when practicing Judaism. You can also convert to Judaism. One does not have to have Jewish parents or family to be Jewish."To convert to Judaism all you must do is study the faith and then go before learned people of the Judaism community." This quote, from [], ﻿ ﻿ says the steps of converting to Judaism. All you must do is learn about the religion and go to Jewish people in the community. Another false statement sometimes made about Jews is that they reject, or hate Jesus. They have nothing against Jesus they just believe in their own god Messiah. However, Christians and Jews are very alike because the Jewish holy book, the Torah, is from the Bible which is the Christian holy book. []
 * Misunderstanding: **