Keeping It Kosher With Jewish Interfaith Marriage

By Timothy Adams


It is a time of great rejoicement and nothing should detract from this in the days leading up to the event. Jewish interfaith marriage has become widespread today with the advent of the World Wide Web and online dating sites. It is not the same as years gone by where marriages were arranged between families and partners were chosen from an early age.

This can pose a problem for some especially with those who have traditional parents and expect their children to marry within in their respective faiths. However after much deliberation it is the children who win this war of faiths and opt to marry out of their faith. With time and with lots of love, many of these marriages do work and children born into them get exposure to both faiths carried by parents.

For the partner that is not a Jew or Jewess, some investigations are required to familiarize oneself with the many laws and customs that make up this religion. The subject is vast and it is noble to do some research and find out a little more about what comprises a Jewish wedding. A lot of this can be done on the Internet as the subject is covered in depth online.

Should a partner be an Orthodox Jew or Jewess then this can pose many problems. Firstly, one can rule out having the ceremony in an Orthodox Synagogue as a marriage such as this is not condoned or accepted at all in religious circles. Many find that they will need the assistance of an interfaith Rabbi to do the honours and officiate the marriage ceremony.

Laws pertaining to food will have to be learnt about should one of the partners feel they would like to know more. This sometimes work and the Jew in the partnership will appreciate the effort made by their spouse to be. It takes a lifetime to know a fraction of the material contained in the Torah or Bible as it is known in English spheres.

The decision basically boils down whether to have a meat meal or a milk one. These two cannot be mixed as this goes against the laws of kashrut. It is best advice to use a caterer that caters for such events and one that has been accepted as preparing foods that are completely kosher and is recognised by a Jewish Court of Law or Beth Din.

Being prepared takes some investigations and asking a Rabbi what is required is a must. They are there to guide one and to put one at ease whilst the preparations are underway. Questions will arise as to what is allowed and what is not but with time these tend to work themselves out for themselves.

An interfaith marriage has become more and more desirable today. Jews want the benefits of experiencing a wedding such as this. If in doubt, it is best to speak to those who have done it and how they went about preparing for this special day.




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