Interdating
Before pressuring rabbis to abandon their opposition to interdating, I decided to test Rob Eshman’s claim that there is a shortage of Jewish men between 30 and 49 willing to marry (“Our Hindu Widows,” Aug. 10).
I turned to the 2000 National Jewish Population Survey and found that the problem Eshman proposes to solve does not exist.
To begin with, equal proportions (40 percent) of Jewish men and Jewish women between the ages of 30 and 49 were not currently married in 2000, so there is no obvious shortage of men. Furthermore, it is the men, not the women, who have trouble finding a Jewish date: 43 percent of the men are currently dating as compared with 33 percent of Jewish women.
So why are fewer Jewish women in the dating pool? For one thing, Jewish women are more successful in love: 8 percent of the women were involved in a serious relationship, as compared with only 4 percent of the Jewish men. But that still leaves 53 percent of the men and 59 percent of the women who are not dating for some other reason. If rabbis are able exert any kind of influence on dating, it should be to lighten up on the career path and get out more.
Among those 30- to 49-year-olds who were dating, it turns out to be the Jewish women who are going out with non-Jews: 15 percent of Jewish men reported dating only or mostly Jews, as compared with 11 percent of Jewish women.
Moreover, when Jews between the ages of 30 and 49 do marry, it is the women who are slightly more likely to end up with a non-Jewish spouse. Thus, neither gender needs permission from rabbis or encouragement from journalists to date non-Jews. The vast majority already do.
Eshman is profoundly correct, however, when he states that the discussion of intermarriage should not be limited to the occasional opinion piece in Commentary magazine. Nor should the communal discussion of intermarriage be limited to the impact of day schools.
Children with two Jewish parents are now outnumbered by the children of intermarriages. Developing programs to deal with intermarriage should be on the communal agenda. If such programs are beyond our consensus or political will, we should at the very least understand the future impact of intermarriage on the Los Angeles Jewish community.
Bruce A. Phillips
Professor of Sociology and Jewish Communal Service
Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion
Los Angeles
Free of Charge
Roger Pondel’s accusatory letter in the pages of The Jewish Journal is wrong. I never believed when David Suissa and I determined to give our services for free to any Jewish organization which asked during the Days of Awe that I would have to defend what we see as mitzvah work at this time of year. This is not a business promotion in the guise of a mitzvah, as the accusation has been levied (Letters, Sept. 7).
For many years now, David has devoted his time as a volunteer to the Jewish community. In the capacity of running my business, I receive no less than 25 requests each week for my time from people who cannot afford my services or need advice. Among those requests are nonprofits, as well as job seekers who need guidance.
I was telling David during lunch about these requests and commented how I wanted to open up a booth on Sundays on the Venice Boardwalk, dispensing advice for free to anyone who needs it, in order to satisfy these needs. From that idea, evolved the Sept. 18 event, where he and I would consult for free for any Jewish organization which responded. So far, we have received more than 30 requests, far more than we can handle in one day, and we are considering doing this for several days.
It is too bad that there are people who will take a good deed and twist it into something suspicious and publications which will indulge these peoples’ needs for hurtful and needless attacks.
Gary Wexler
Via e-mail
A League of Its Own
How unfortunate that The Jewish Journal yet again chose a negative and sensationalistic front-line story, this one with Wohlgelernter’s sensationalistic and negative opinion piece on the Israel Baseball League (“The Boychiks of Summer,” Aug. 31).
If you were going to print an opinion story on the Israel Baseball League, it should have come from one of the 120 fantastic players, some of whom have already been offered subsequent baseball league contracts from other leagues around the world.
From all reports, all the players are eager to return next year, having had the experience of a lifetime. It wouldn’t have been too difficult to get the real story by interviewing some of the local heroes of this league who have just returned from this amazing and unique inaugural sports startup event in Israel.
As anyone familiar with Israel knows, nothing in Israel happens easily, but the successes are sweet.
Name Withheld Upon Request
LimmudLA
We would like to correct an inaccurate description of LimmudLA in your article regarding our Jewish Community Foundation’s Cutting Edge grant (“Jewish Community Foundation Picks ‘Cutting Edge’ Programs,” Aug. 31).
LimmudLA is indeed an innovative program which promotes learning and community building, but not across religions as stated in your article. Our focus is Jewish community building through learning and exploration (which includes art, culture, text, etc.) and transdenominational Jewish communal conversation.
We are a volunteer, grass-roots, multigenerational organization in which people from all across the Jewish community come together. Anyone interested in helping to plan or to present at the first LimmudLA, Feb. 15-18, 2008, can contact us at LimmudLA.org.
Linda Fife and Shep Rosenman
LimmudLA Co-chairs
Los Angeles
Sen. Craig
Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. This has been the chant of liberal pundits since the odd restroom behavior of Sen. Larry Craig, Idaho Republican, came to light (“Jews Should Oppose Sen. Craig’s Ouster,” Aug. 7). On one talk show the other day, an anti-Republican caller nearly hyperventilated in her repetition of the H-word. This is to be expected, for sure.
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