Last night I had a long conversation with David at the Kollel. He is around 50 years old, divorced with 2 daughters, 20 and 24. He loves his daughters dearly and says they are really wonderful.
When he moved to Canada in 1973, he was freshly out of the Israeli army. He cared little enough about Judaism to marry a non-Jewish woman in Vancouver.
He talks about the fact that even though it didn't work out between them, he still respects her greatly and he knows he owes a lot to her. He says she is a good person and holds nothing against her. They are on friendly terms.
So, his girls are not Jewish. David says that when his wife, 2 years before they separated (they were together for 19 years) started attending Church (she's Christian), he felt strongly inside that something was wrong with the relationship.
And now, after all that, he is trying to give his girls Jewish experiences. He is making sure they go to a Pessach seder and probably other things too.
He says that when they got married, his non-Jewish wife knew more about Judaism than he did. "Because she opened up books and read."
There is something gravely, gravely wrong with our education system(s) that is producing the Jew who doesn't think twice before marrying a non-Jew. A Jew who is forced to learn through hard life experiences that he cares about being Jewish.
Today David is attending the Kollel. He is affiliating. This is something he is choosing. Why could he not have been instilled with roots for these feelings 30 years ago?
QE
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