Intermarriage: Great Mourning Among The Jews

21 of the Fourth Month 5769

No, the title is not a reference to the recently invented concept of mourning practices during the "Three Weeks" between the Fast of the Fourth Month (17 b'Tammuz) and the Fast of the Fifth Month (9 b'Av).

Clinton’s Top Muslim Aide to Wed Jewish Congressman
Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 21 Tammuz 5769/July 13, 2009

(IsraelNN.com) Brooklyn, New York Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner will marry outside the Jewish religion to Huma Abedin, a Muslim woman who is considered one of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s top aides, the New York Daily News reported.

The intermarriage rate in the United States is estimated to be approximately 50 percent and has been one of the strongest forces that has diluted Jewish identity and support of a strong Israel.

This report immediately brought to mind a verse from Megillath Esther. During the chanting of the this megillah on Purim, many Ashkinazim have the custom of chanting the last part of this verse using the mournful ta'amei hamiqra* (music) used to chant Eikhah (Lamentations) on the Fast of the Fifth Month, to emphasize the gravity of what is taking place at this point in the story.

אסתר ד,ג
אֵבֶל גָּדוֹל לַיְּהוּדִים, וְצוֹם וּבְכִי וּמִסְפֵּד; שַׂק וָאֵפֶר, יֻצַּע לָרַבִּים...

Esther 4:3
...there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

It is truly a day of mourning, when one of our own goes off to "marry" a non-Jew. How many more Jewish babies will NOT be born, due to intermarriage?

I have come under fire for daring to call intermarriage the "Second Holocaust."

But, that's essentially what it is.

The above IsraelNN.com article continues with a list of Rep. Weiner's "pro-Israel" stances and actions.

1. Rep. Weiner introduced the "Saudi Arabia Accountability Act" in Congress (2007). (Big deal. Has it helped curb secret Saudi funding to terrorist organizations?)

2. He tried to ban the PA delegation from entering the United Nations (2006). (Big deal. He should have led the charge in the U. S. to leave the U. N.)

3. Rep. Weiner is considered a “defender of Israel” and is a supporter of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), but has not recently taken a strong stand in favor of a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. (Surprised?)

4. He did say that U.S. President Barack Obama went “too far" in opposing building for Jewish “natural growth” in Judea and Samaria. (eyes rolling - I really feel bad for this guy. He REALLY thinks he's trying to help us. But does he consider "us" to be even remotely related to him?)

5. However, Rep. Weiner also justified the president’s position. "President Obama said that part of his mission was to speak the truth to friends," he said. "Well I think that I'm doing that with President Obama--being truthful in saying that he got it wrong when he went as far as he did on settlements. That doesn't mean that I don't support him and that he's not a friend to Israel.” (Are you as confused by this doublespeak as I am? More consequences of assimilated "American Jewish education.")

6. He also said that he thinks President Obama’s stand against a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria is designed to help PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. (Translation: Let's care about keeping a terrorist in power, so that worse terrorists don't get control,...even though that's what these people want.)

If this is "pro-Israel," then I would hate to go back and look at the statements of those members of congress who are considered anti-Israel.

I believe that he believes that he is "pro-Israel," and that he is trying to do the right thing,...even though he obvious is not. Israel is the homeland promised to Am Yisrael, and to no other. Being "pro-Israel" means believing that this cannot be compromised.

Do I blame Rep. Weiner for his marriage to a non-Jew and his distorted views on Israel? No. How can I, considering the spiritual state of the Jewish People residing in the U. S.?

"Once there was a television program which centered on the theme of intermarriage. The heroes of the piece were named Bernie and Bridget. The American Jewish Establishment put great pressure on the network that televised the series and the program was ultimately dropped. Bernie and Bridget were no longer. They had been canceled…

"How relatively simple it was to cancel Bernie and Bridget on television and how much more difficult to struggle against the intermarriage and assimilation that exist in real American Jewish life...

"...Now, Bernie, you know the tragedy, the bankruptcy of the false “Judaism” you were fed. You know it without having to open this book and read these pages. You lived it, and, I say with a sad heart, you have been twisted and crippled by it. You were robbed by all the good people who gave you everything in life except the most important things – truth, meaning, identity.

"But never think that what you have seen is the real Judaism. Far from it. The Judaism that you never saw, and never were given to properly understand exists and awaits you. Stop for a moment and consider it. Forget about trying to escape from your people, your heritage, and your destiny. Forget all the nonsense that poses as “Judaism” – the mausoleums that pass for temples; the rabbis who preach salvation for all causes except the Jewish one; the people who created G-d in their own image, making Him emerge in the form of a UJA Israel Bond, Bar Mitzvah caterer and bagels and lox. Let me help you understand who you are, who your people are, what the times we live in mean for you for them, what the future holds for you, your people, and Israel. Forget the tragedy and consider the glory.

I wish that I could quote this entire chapter here.

In another book, by the same author, the scenario is presented of Jewish parents who tell their children they must marry Jews. The children ask why. But, all their parents can do is repeat their insistence that their children should marry Jews.

They do not know how to answer their children's question. This is the tragedy.

The above chapter is entitled "Intermarriage, Assimilation, And Alienation,"** and comes from the book Why Be Jewish? (1977) by Rabbi Meir Kahane hy"d. The scenario which follows in from the first chapter of the book Listen World, Listen Jew (1980).

I mention the author only now, as for some reason, the mention of Rabbi Kahane's name tends to scare people off, people who have never read any of his work, that is.

Even though I feel like I am talking to a brick wall here, I will conclude by reminding you of the last couple of weekly Torah portions

Is Rep. Weiner familiar with these Torah portions? And, if so, how many thousands of other Jews are not?

When these portions are taught, just how much distortion is needed to ease the assimilated Jewish mind into thinking that everything he does is alright, including marrying non-Jewish women, living in a foreign land, and collaborating in the grave Torah prohibition of mesirah (handing over) of Jewish lands to its enemies?

Probably not much distorted "interpretation" is necessary.

This is the tragedy.

Rep. Weiner,...Anthony,...it's still not too late.

*********

*I would like to encourage people to remove the bastardized word "trope" from your vocabulary, and replace it with the correct term "ta'amei hamiqra."

**Special thanks to Barabara Ginsburg for making excerpts of Rabbi Kahane's writings available online.