Keruv and the Status of Intermarried Families

The principle of keruv1 is central to the ideals and aspirations of Judaism. We frequently cite as one of our most important goals the need to bring those who are only tangentially involved in things Jewish closer to the center of Jewish life and to make Judaism more central to their lives. While the term keruv is most frequently invoked with regard to Jews, the same attitude might be of import with regard to non-Jews as well, provided that they indicate a desire to become part of the Jewish faith. The well known aggadah about Hillel and the proselytes clearly deals with a case in which the non-Jews approached the Jewish community seeking conversion (Shabbat 31a). The Jewish community did not proselytize. In our day, however, we confront a situation that requires active attempts to convert non-Jews to Judaism. The extraordinarily high rate of intermarriage among Jews (encompassing members of all movements, including ours) demands our attention. Having failed to prevent these marriages or to convert the non-Jewish spouses to Judaism before marriage (if we indeed had the chance), we must now seek to ensure that these families remain a part of the Jewish people. Therefore, we must actively seek to convert the non-Jewish spouse, and, if the wife is not Jewish, then to convert the children born before her conversion, as well. It must be emphasized at the outset that this policy constitutes an undeniable and significant compromise of traditional halakhic standards, which consider conversions solely for the sake of marriage as undesirable.2 Clearly, our deviation from the halakhic norm in this case stems not from disdain for it, but from an awareness of the urgency of the status quo in many communities. Needless to say, the standards for the actual conversion ceremony must remain unaffected. Our only departure from halakhah in this case involves the inclusion of an additional group of people as eligible for consideration as converts. 3 Yet, while conversion of the nonJewish spouse in an intermarriage constitutes the ultimate goal, it must surely be recognized that the response will not be immediate in the vast majority of couples, and that it is therefore necessary to arrive at a set of policies for dealing with the intermarried family in the context of synagogue life. It is in this regard that keruv will apply more readily. To what extent are we prepared to go in order to include the Jewish members of these families in the synagogue? Related issues must be considered with regard