A special commission to study the causes and seek means of ending mixed marriages by Jewish students attending American colleges and universities was announced yesterday by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
Moses I. Feuerstein, UOJCA president, said the creation of the Commission on Intermarriage in American Colleges was motivated by an “increasing trend” toward such marriages by Jewish college youth. He called the problem “a grave challenge to the continuity of the Jewish community in this country and a serious menace to the survival” of traditional Judaism. He cited studies of such marriages in several cities.
The commission, which will be composed of scholars and rabbis whose names will be announced soon, will make a “study in depth” of the reasons why Jewish college students abandon Judaism in marriage “and other social areas.” It would seek to create centers to counsel Jewish students and adults, mobilize community resources “to combat the inducements” to mixed marriage, and sponsor periodic conferences of American rabbinic and lay leaders on the problem, Mr. Feuerstein said.
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