Concern over the increase in interdating and intermarriage of Jewish students at the University of Minnesota was expressed here today by Rabbi Louis Milgrom, director of the Hillel Foundation at the University.
In a report to the Minnesota Hillel Advisory Council, Rabbi Milgrom pointed to what he called an “extremely dangerous” trend of interdating and intermarriage among Jews on the campus, in spite of an apparent sharp drop over the past year in the proportion of non-Jewish dates at “official” Jewish functions.
Rabbi Milgrom, who said he based his views on daily counseling problems, told the American Jewish World here that “intermarriage as well as interdating continues to rise and will not abate until something is done on a far larger scale throughout the community.”
The Hillel leader reported on his participation in a recent discussion at a fraternity where those who favored complete freedom in interdating forthrightly articulated their stand, while those who the rabbi knew opposed interdating remained silent.
While the percentage of interdating at “official” Jewish functions decreased from 75 percent to 25 percent over the past year, Rabbi Milgrom warned that the fraternity crowd, however, continues “to sound diametrically opposed to my position” on interdating. He said the lessening in interdating at “official” functions was due to “pressure created in the community on fraternity leadership.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
