Conceptualizing reform judaism in an age of religious pluralism

Abstract

Introduction The acculturation of Jews in the United States has been both a blessing and a curse. As Jews have become more accepted in American society, the rates of intermarriage have increased while religious observance has decreased. Intermarriage has created much conflict within the Jewish community because many fear that the children of intermarried couples will not be raised as Jews and the continuity of the Jewish faith and people is under threat. As Egon Mayer writes, "The potential for extinction this time, however, is not the result of hate and persecution but rather of love and absorption-by-matrimony into a benignly accepting majority."1 Not only are Jews intermarrying in large numbers, many are also marrying converts to Judaism. This development has alarmed many Orthodox and Conservative Jews who fear that these converts are choosing Judaism for romantic reasons rather than for spiritual convictions. Immanuel Jakobovits writes that most people convert "not because they fall in love with Judaism, but because they fall in love with a Jewish person."2 He concludes that "conversion for the sake of the family" rather than spirituality is harmful to Judaism.3 Both intermarriage and conversion have been viewed as the result of assimilation and secularization. According to secularization theory, modernity has dramatically altered the function and significance of religion. This does not mean that religion holds no importance today, but that the institution of religion no longer holds the same authority as it once did over economic, political, and social structures. Bryan Wilson writes: