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Ruth told Naomi, "Your God
is my God."
I suppose the question I am asked the most is, "Will
you do an interfaith marriage ceremony, and if so, why?" My answer
is an immediate and emphatic "Yes." To explain the reason I must
take you back to my childhood and to the Bible. I was raised in
Brooklyn, New York, a community that was half Italian and half
Jewish. I remember being told that it was a sin to walk into a
church, and if I did I would be struck dead. One day when I was
eight years old and walking home with some of my Catholic friends,
one mentioned that he had to stop at the church to speak with
the priest. He asked if I wanted to come inside? Being eight,
and knowing I was immortal, I decided to go with him. Eyes closed
and expecting my life to end, I was shocked to open my eyes and
find myself in a place of such beauty and peace.
It wasn't until 1989, when I found the New Seminary in New York
City, that I heard the words "Never instead of, always in addition
to". How simple! There is no space for divisiveness or separation--this
became my life's motto. So today, as a practicing rabbi, when I
hear someone say that a rabbi shouldn't conduct an interfaith ceremony
because it is wrong or that it is against Jewish tradition and law,
I refer them to the Torah, the five books of Moses in the Hebrew
Scriptures. My first question is, "Who did Moses (the most important
man in Jewish history) marry?" Moses' wife was Zipporah, whose father
was as a priest of another religion, and according to history was
black. I also relate the story of Esther, for whom an entire book
of the bible was written. Esther, whose real name was Hadassah,
we celebrate on Purim because she saved the Jewish people from extinction.
She changed her name to Esther, which was a Persian name, so she
could marry the king who certainly wasn't Jewish. My third question
is "Who is the most revered woman in the bible?" Most people say
that it is Ruth, who has an entire book written about her. Ruth
was not Jewish. She married twice to Jewish men, and after the second
one died, her mother-in-law, Naomi told Ruth that she was going
back to her people and that Ruth should do the same. That is when
Ruth answered with one of the most famous lines in the Bible as
she said to Naomi, "Whither thou goest I will go. Your people are
my people. Your God is my God." How can I conduct an interfaith
marriage? How can I not?
Rabbi Ross and Rev. Steen Ross are both graduates of and were
ordained by the New Seminary in New York City. They are both currently
deans of the Seminary where Rabbi Ross is also the Bursar. He was
ordained as a Rabbi by The Rabbinical Seminary International, and
is now their executive director. He is also the current executive
director of the Rabbinical Fellowship of America, International.
Rev. Steen Ross is the owner and director of The Center of the Shining
Light, a holistic and spiritual center on the Upper West side of
Manhattan, where she maintains a private practice in counseling
and other forms of healing work.
Rabbi Roger and Reverand Deborah - Loving
Hearts Ceremonies
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Joel
Crohn,