What do Jews think of inter-ethnic marriage?

I have an Israeli Jewish girlfriend. She is not Jewish in the religious sense, just ethnic.



I am English and am an Atheist. I plan on proposing sometime soon and we plan on living in her native Israel, but is inter-ethnic marriage frowned upon or unaccepted there?



Any answers appreciated, thanksWhat do Jews think of inter-ethnic marriage?It depends on how you define "ethnic Jewish". Because I understand it like this: You mean she is not Jewish because she has only a Jewish father but not a Jewish mother, OR her mother converted but not orthodox so she is not Jewish in the eyes of the Israeli rabbinate. If this is the case: Then she would not be Jewish and you both could marry in a christian church.

If this is not the case and she is fully Jewish but just feels very secular or atheist, then you could not marry her in IL unless you converted before. But you could marry abroad.

In my eyes, for the case that she is recognized as Jewish by the Israeli rabbinate, marrying and having two religions at home won't be the ideal solution in regard to you as future parents.What do Jews think of inter-ethnic marriage?Unless her family is very Orthodox/traditional, it probably won't be an issue. From your description, I find their being so unlikely. Most modern Jewish congregations are very welcoming to inter-faith couples, even when one of the couple doesn't have a faith at all.What do Jews think of inter-ethnic marriage?Every individual is an individual and will have their own reaction.What do Jews think of inter-ethnic marriage?
I think you are a little confused about Jews and Israel, and since she is Israeli, I am not sure how this happened.



The Jewish people have been a multi-ethnic people since the FIRST Diaspora. There is no one single Jewish ethnicity and there are Jews of every ethnicity you can imagine.



Some Jewish familes from one culture with one set of traditions may have a difficult time with another Jewish family from another ethnicity with a different set of cultural traditions.



Jewish identity isn't determined by ethnicity or race, but according to Jewish law. Jews originated s a tribal people and our laws of self-determination remain rooted in that paradigm.



She may be a secular Jew, or an agnostic or simply not much practicing of anything Jew, but if she fits the criteria of bing called a Jew itisn't because of ethnicity, but because of Jewish law.



Someone can live in a Jewish neighborhood, grow up eating kosher Jewish food, know how to speak Yiddish, and still not be any form of Jew. Likewise, someone may not know very much at all about Jewish foods, belief or custom and if thei mother is a Jew, they are a Jew according to Jewsh law, and unless they've adopted a foreign religion, they're considered "full members".



Thre are many *different* Jewish ethnicities within Israel. The Mizrahi ( comprising a little more than half the Jews in Israel) whose ancestors never left the Middle East and North Africa, the Sephardi, whose ancestries lived in Spain for a time, the Beta Yisrael from Ethiopia, the Ashkenazi ( who are a majority in the U.S) and several other ethnicities. These Jewish people all intermarry...sometimes their families wish their children would find mates within the people of thei own ethnicities..but within Judaism itself..our LAWS..race and ethnicity are non-issues.



Jewish law prohibits marriage between a Jew and a non Jew. I am a Jewish woman married to a non-Jew. Our child is a Jew and we raised him in Judaism despite the fact I didn't follow Jewish law. My husband has never been treated any differently than anyone else in our Jewish community and my parents loved him very much. He doesn't belong to any religion but he participates with me in raising our child in Judaism.

I don't claim to be a strictly observant Jew and it appears that your girlfriend does not either. It is you and she and your respective families that need to work out whatever issues you have with regard to your ethnicities.. If neither of you are concerned about the Jewish religion.



Bottom line. Jewish law doesn't concern itself with someone's race or ethnicity with regard to marriage. It would be the fact that you are a non Jew marrying a Jew that might be an issue with observant Jews. The Jewish people are a multi-ethnic people.



edit: My non-Jewish husband ( who isn't a member of any religion) is treated cordially within the Jewish community and loved by my Jewish family. However, within the synagogue and services there *is* a distinction for non Jews, and it is not one of thinking them a lesser person, but simply that there are certain roles and functions within a Jewish religious context that are reserved for adult Jews alone. Like the apostate, a non-Jew is not counted in a minyan,(the mininum number of adults required for certain prayers) nor may they be called to the bimah to read Torah to the congregation.