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Author Bio:
Rabbi Marc Gellman began his studies in 1969 at the University of Wisconsin, and went on to attend the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of ...
Read more about By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services.
Bless Ivanka Trump for Her Spiritual Integrity!
By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services
Q: I read this week that Ivanka Trump, the daughter of Donald and
Ivana Trump, is engaged and will be converting to Judaism for her
husband. However, perhaps she was misquoted. I know a man who was
raised Buddhist; he married a Jewish woman and they raised their two
children in the Jewish faith. After the children passed their B'nei
Mitzvot, the man decided that he really liked Judaism himself,
attended classes, converted, and joined a congregation.
Perhaps Ivanka could learn an important first lesson from this story on the conversion process -- namely what is and what is not a valid reason to convert. By the way, you have many more readers and admirers than you'll ever know. -- R., via godsquadquestion@aol.com
A: My topics are usually drawn from the pages of the Bible, not the pages of the tabloids, but I must admit that the conversion of Ivanka Trump and her engagement to Jared Kushner did attract my attention. You seem to be opposing her conversion because it's for the sake of her marriage. I think you're being way too hard on her.
First off, you've wrongly assumed that conversion to Judaism for marriage is not acceptable. Conversion solely for the purpose of marriage is not encouraged in Judaism but is still valid. Ivanka Trump's motivations seem entirely laudable to me. Also, the rabbi tutoring her is one of the finest I know.
I've converted many people to Judaism, and Father Tom Hartman, my former partner on the God Squad column, has converted many people to Catholicism. What we admire about all of them is how they've accepted the importance of a single religious presence in the home.
Of course, children of interfaith marriages, like all of us, can decide to follow a different path up the mountain as they enter their adult years, but children deserve to have roots in some particular faith. They deserve to be able to enter a church or a synagogue or a temple or a mosque and in one of those places say with confidence, "I am home here." Giving your child that gift of religious roots is an enormous act of love, and for the parent in the "out" faith, an enormous act of sacrifice and courage.
When adult children do convert, I also try to explain that this does not constitute a rejection of their parents' love. I hope this celebrity conversion and wedding will inspire others in loving interfaith relationships to consider the possibility of a single religion in their home from the beginning. I agree with you that conversion at a later stage in a marriage has its virtues, but all in all, I would hope that religious issues could be worked out earlier rather than later.
One of the reasons early conversion makes sense to me is that it puts to the test the often superficial promises interfaith couples make to raise their kids in one faith. It's not that brides or grooms are insincere in their pledges, but rather that they don't really know what they're promising. If they haven't studied the faith of the person they love, they can't really know what it means to raise children in that faith.
When couples decide to raise their children in the faith of only one partner, I ask the person in the "out-faith" the following question: "Why would you want to raise your child as a Jew (or Christian or...) and not want to be a member of that faith yourself?" Frankly, I've never heard a satisfying answer to that question. I understand why a person would not want to raise his or her children in a faith they were not raised in, but I can't understand why they would agree to this and not want to convert.
I admire Ivanka Trump's spiritual integrity. I admire her sincere commitment to the faith and traditions of Judaism. I also deeply admire her parent's unconditional love and support in helping her move through this change of faith and change of life.
Donald and Ivana Trump are the objects of constant and usually trivial and invidious media scrutiny, but in their brave and loving support of their daughter's conversion, they've demonstrated the highest level of parental love. I praise and bless them, and urge other parents of children in interfaith relationships to learn from their fine example.
I wish the bride and groom a life of joy, health and service to others. May they be blessed to see the children of their children's children. If you're near a glass, crush it now and shout, "Mazal Tov!" That's about as close to this wedding as any of us are going to get.
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad, c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207, or email them to godsquadquestion@aol.com.
(c) 2009 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
This news arrived on: 07/23/2009
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Posted Comments:
09-02-2009 14:03
dOminik wrote:
I Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
09-02-2009 14:03
dOminik wrote:
HEY...
Before you pray... find out first whose prayers does God listen to:
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Who are the righteous in the Bible? Arent they the members of Church of God coz they are taught to become SAINTS?
How can you be SAINTS if you are not a member of the Church of God in the Bible?
I Cor 1:1Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:
Where HEY.. in the Church of God called to be SAINTS...
Good day.
Before you pray... find out first whose prayers does God listen to:
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
Who are the righteous in the Bible? Arent they the members of Church of God coz they are taught to become SAINTS?
How can you be SAINTS if you are not a member of the Church of God in the Bible?
I Cor 1:1Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:
Where HEY.. in the Church of God called to be SAINTS...
Good day.
08-28-2009 11:12
hey dominik wrote:
you are in my prayers Dominik
.
08-28-2009 11:10
hey dominik wrote:
YOUR Jer 51:30 moment
you don't dare answer this CAUSE YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME: Your “most sensible preacher of this time” also said something VERY INTERESTING and ENLIGHTENING. On the bottom of webpage 1 of that the article “Salvation” referenced before, Your PRESIDING MINISTER Mr. Soriano stated: “If you have noticed, in the New Testament, the word house refers to the Church of God. This is, truly, the house of God because it was built by God, Himself. That is why, if, in our time, you come across churches, whose founders are also their ministers, you can be sure that they are NOT REAL!” [emphasis original]. Mr. Soriano’s got a lot of chutzpah, arrogance, rudeness, to say something like this since he is the FOUNDER of your church group back in 1977!
So, he is hung by his own words “you can be sure that they are [he is] NOT REAL!”
So, he is hung by his own words “you can be sure that they are [he is] NOT REAL!”
08-25-2009 11:26
doMINIK wrote:
HOWDY:
A DEBATE WITH YOUR PREACHER AND BRO. ELI WILL END THIS.
IF YOU AND YOUR PREACHER WILL HAVE THE GUTS TO ACCEPT IT.
DONT TELL ME YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONE MENTIONED IN
JER 51:30... MEN BECAME WOMEN...
DEBATE?.. TO BE BROADCAST AROUND THE WORLD... WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THE EXPENSES...
A DEBATE WITH YOUR PREACHER AND BRO. ELI WILL END THIS.
IF YOU AND YOUR PREACHER WILL HAVE THE GUTS TO ACCEPT IT.
DONT TELL ME YOU ARE ONE OF THE ONE MENTIONED IN
JER 51:30... MEN BECAME WOMEN...
DEBATE?.. TO BE BROADCAST AROUND THE WORLD... WE'LL TAKE CARE OF THE EXPENSES...
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