Read Our Essays on Interfaithfamily.org

Interfaithfamily.org asked Lisa Leeman and I to share our differing views on interfaith marriage with them. Read our essays there by CLICKING HERE.

REPORT FROM IFP MARKET

Yet another great event for OUT OF FAITH!   Although fewer people attended our IFP Film Market screening last week than attended in Los Angeles (because the event was only open to film industry professionals), many of those who did attend could help us get the film seen by thousands, if not millions, of others!  We are excited about the response and hope to have meaningful news about our distribution decisions in the near future.  Stay tuned. . .  same latke time, same latke channel!

LA VIP SCREENING A BIG SUCCESS--NOW OFF TO IFP!

Thanks to all who came to our screening last night!  It was so gratifying to Lisa and me to have such a large turnout; to hear your laughter, see your tears and get your positive feedback after the screening, meant the world to us.  Check back later to see video posts of the nights events!  And remember, OUT OF FAITH is a not-for-profit venture, so if after seeing the film you would like to get more involved, by either making a donation, or arranging screenings with organizations with which you are involved please let us know.  And check back soon to determine what we intend to do next with distribution.  We’re off to the IFP Film Market!

Another Festival Invite for OUT OF FAITH

Virginia Film Festival—Director Lisa Leeman will be sitting on a panel regarding religion and film—yours truly cannot make it, but stay tuned for more info!

More controversy over interfaith marriage...

The other link on the JTA article is "Survey: Children of Intermarriage Identify as Jews some of the time"
also by Sue Fishkoff
www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=15382&intcategoryid=4

Ninety young adults from Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, each with one non-Jewish parent, described their relationship to Judaism and the Jewish community in recent face-to-face interviews run by the Jewish Outreach Institute.
Preliminary analysis of the data suggests a population that “feels Jewish” in many ways, despite a lack of Jewish education or affiliation. Just 30 percent of those interviewed identify with Judaism as a religion, but almost 70 percent say that being Jewish is important to them.

This is interesting in light of the website "Will Your Grandchildren Be Jews?"
www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/WillYourGrandchildrenBeJews.htm (by Antony Gordon & Richard Horowitz)
This website has a controversial demographic chart, based on the controversial National Jewish Population Survey of 1990 & 2000....which basically says that if Jewish intermarriage rates continue at the current rate (47% according to this site), that non-orthodox Jews could practically disappear within 100 years...

ok, we could bandy about these statistics forever...it's hard to trust statistics. they can be 'spun'... social trends change....etc etc. concern & anguish over interfaith marriage is at the core of Leah's position in Out of Faith. and equally as compelling is her granddaughter Cheryl, who says that she always thought she'd marry 'a blonde, blue-eyed yeshiva boy' (she says she "got everything but the yeshiva boy" )...until she met someone she grew to like, then love, who wasn't Jewish. In other words, even when you intend to marry within your own 'tribe' (whether jewish, armenian, greek, mexican, chinese, african-american, or any of the vast 'tribes' that make up the U.S. 'salad bowl'), fate may throw you a curveball. I know that some would say that you can control who you fall in love with...but I don't think that's the case, or that life is so simple...

After working on this film for four years, I still feel that most of us cannot sacrifice our own lives or personal happiness for a sociological point...but at the same time, making this film did make me realize that there are sobering ramifications to our 'melting pot' / 'salad bowl' beautiful diverse society. that with pluralism and cultural mixing it up comes both wonderful new things, but also a dilution and loss of culture... I guess making the film made me re-examine what my own relationship to Judaism is, and what I want it to be... and what I want to leave for the future... I'm still working on it... and you?

Check out the JTA feature article on Out of Faith

www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=17009&intcategoryid=5
Tom Tugend's article will also appear in the hard copy of this week's LA Jewish Journal (comes out this Friday, 9/8/06). It does a good job of describing the film, as well my and Mark's different backgrounds and perspectives on interfaith marriage.

& at that article, there are 2 links to VERY thematically related articles:
"To Officiate or not? Mixed Marriage source of debate at Reform Rabbis' parley" by Sue Fishkoff -
www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=16775&intcategoryid=4
To summarize, it sounds like there's a soulful debate going on in Reform rabbinical circles about whether or not to perform mixed marriages. And that its so controversial and contentious that a vote on a resolution has been postponed until next March's convention of the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Reform movement's rabinnical association).
"Some say their refusal to perform mixed marriages has led the non-Jewish partner to convert later, out of respect for the rabbi's position. Others say that performing the wedding and embracing the mixed couple from the beginning eventually leads many non-Jewish spouses to convert."

What do you think? For the Jewish halves of mixed marriages, is it important to you that your spouse convert? Why or why not? For the partner who is not Jewish, how do you feel about this whole discussion? Why or why wouldn't you convert?

Having spent four years making this film, I'm still sorting out my thoughts on all this...