Why marry Jewish?

I got into a conversation with my friend the other day about marrying Jewish and conversion...I have always been brought up with the subtle suggestion by my grandparents my parents that marrying Jewish was a good idea; it ensures the survival of the Jewish people and is a source of common ground in a relationship. They also preached that conversion was a totally viable option. But really, if Judaism to me is a set of values and traditions, why is intermarriage such a big deal? If a couple decides to live a moral life, why do I care if they share the label of "Jew"? I'd rather the basic principles of the Torah and the moral values it teaches (respect and love for all things, resistance to oppression, charity) reach out to the rest of the world than continue a direct line of pure-blood Judaism. That is, I don't care what you label yourself (Christian, Jewish, Atheist etc) or if the labels disappear entirely in the end as long as you are living a moral life...Opinions?

Who was your Jewish Ledaer Role Models?

As a young child my favorite place in our Temple in New Jersey was not my preschool or Hebrew school classroom, but the mail boxes. They were a set of white shelves, with a plastic case on top that held the board members’ name tags. I know a lot of you are thinking why would a replica of a Staples’ display become the heart of my Judaism? Well every time my parents and I entered Temple, they both had to check their mail. My parents for as long as I can remember were active in Temple. They weren’t the most knowledgeable, or the most observant, but they were strong leaders. My mom sat on the Religious School Committee and chaired the Children’s Worship Committee. She organized family retreats to near by camps, set up parallel services for the youth during the high holy days, and planned the second night sedar at our Temple. My dad was co-chair of the Social Action Committee, and organized the Temple’s first Mitzvah Day. He later sat on the Executive Board.
From a young age, I learned about the importance of giving back. I realized how important it was to help make one’s community better. Our Temple was home, some of my family’s closet friends are from my first preschool class at the age of 2. I followed in my parents footsteps. After we moved to Maryland, I wanted to give back to my Temple and my Jewish community. People come up to me and say, “You seem like a natural leader,” but really I attribute it to my parents.
Albert Bandura’s Observational Learning Theory states that if a child observes an action they will do it also. I watched my parents work with others, like deciding on who would sleep at the homeless shelter over Christmas, or how many matzah balls each volunteer would have to make. I saw them organize information, type minutes, and create spread sheets.
My parents are my model for Jewish leadership. You don’t have to be clergy, or the president of the federation or temple to become active. In fact, I believe it is congregants like my parents that help to create the home feeling that many of us feel at our temples. Not to state a cliché, but I would not be here today if it weren’t for my parents’ model of Jewish Leadership.

advantages/threats to our generation of leadership

What is unique about your generation of Jewish teens and their capacity for leadership? What are the unique challenges of your generation of Jewish teenagers and how do you think they should respond?
As teenagers in the twenty first century, we have been provided with unique opportunities like no other generation has been given before. Yet, living in today’s age also causes us to face new threats and challenges as leaders. The capacity for leadership in my generation is exemplified by each and every honoree here today. All of us have taken advantage of the programming created by the previous generation which started such programs to ensure that the future of the Jewish community would be in good hands. The range of our involvement varies from volunteering internationally, starting non-profit organizations, teaching at Hebrew schools, leading ASSOCIATED committees and much more.
Although we have all taken initiative to get involved, we could not have done it without the resources and assistance from our parents, mentors, and community leaders. The people in our Jewish community are so willing to build young leaders because eventually it will be up to us to continue leading this thriving Jewish community. This concept of including teenagers in typically adult roles is new and catching on in today’s age. In fact many of today’s leaders leaders were never involved as teenagers. For example, once I attended a leadership meeting with Marc Terrill, president of the ASSOCIATED. He explained how astounded and impressed he was with our accomplishments since he had never participated in any Jewish leadership roles as a teenager. If the ASSOCIATED has been able to flourish under his presidency, imagine its capabilities when we become lay leaders.
However, living in today’s world also forces us to face threats from assimilation, terrorism, and missionary groups like Jews for Jesus. The constant temptation to assimilate within American society attributes to the loss of many prospective leaders of our community. Hopefully, with the addition of Jewish Day Schools, on-campus Hillels, summer camps, youth organizations, and other programming, Jewish children and teenagers will be inclined to stay in our community. Terrorism poses a threat to all Jews. By becoming Congressmen or otherwise politically involved in American foreign affairs, we can assist in the effort to annihilate terrorism. Also, through our support and contributions to AIPAC, American Israel Public Affairs committee, we can help to root out terrorism in Israel and all around the world. The last threat, Jews for Jesus, is why we are all here today. According to their website, they “exist to make the messiahship of Jesus an unavoidable issue to our Jewish people worldwide.”
By standing on street corners, handing out pamphlets, and preaching that they can “save” Jews, Jews for Jesus is converting more Jews every day. This is the reason that it is crucial for organizations like Jews for Judaism to exist. With the information provided by Jews for Judaism, Jews can be educated about the ways in which Jews for Jesus manipulates the Torah’s language to target Jews and respond intelligently to their missionary attempts. By encouraging the growth of counter-missionary organizations like Jews for Judaism, we can be sure that our future Jewish leaders will not succumb to the pressure by Jews for Jesus.
-Erika