Mixed marriages, by which 70 percent of the offspring are lost to the Jewish community, can undermine Jewish continuity, according to Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum, national director of the Interreligious Affairs Department of the American Jewish Committee. In a radio talk here he said: “The issue is far from a parochial one. The survival of the Jewish people as an identifiable community transmitting the ideals of the Covenant of Sinai is either of paramount value or of no value. Marriages which result in undermining Jewish continuity are ultimately acts of group suicide–and suicide, either of individuals or of the group, is prohibited by Jewish tradition.” How, Rabbi Tanenbaum asked, “can one justify a demand to allow Soviet Jews to perpetrate their religious continuity, when mixed marriages here are resulting in 70 percent of the children being lost is the Jewish community.”
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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.
