Lately I've spent some time thinking about dating specifically interdating. As I overhear the conversations of the girls in my residence halls about how they spent the night partying at a fraternity party and met some really cute boys, I can't help but think about my own dating scene. I don't mean to be superficial, that's not the point of writing these thoughts. It's more the realization that for me, meeting some charming male seems to be no piece of cake.
Since a young age, my parents engrained in me the importance of dating within the Jewish religion with the assumption that I would marry a Jewish man. They never told me I couldn't date a non Jewish man, but there was an unspoken understanding.
When I confront my peers about their opinion about interdating, over and over again I hear both genders say, "I'm not going to marry her, I won't marry him, it's just temporary and for fun." I constantly find myself refuting these statements.
Perhaps my Judaism is such a vast part of my being that to share myself with another human being, that person must have a mutual understanding of my heritage, ancestery, traditions and culture?
During my year in Israel, I vividly remember participating in an educational session about American Jewry. The person leading the discussion asked the 70 participants in the room to raise their hands if they had any non-Jewish relatives. Of the 70 students, there were 2 whose hands were not raised. This statistic shocked me. I sat in disbelief and began to think, how will the Jewish people ever survive if people do not see the importance of dating and marrying within our religion?
I would love to hear what you think...Is interdating different then intermarriage? Does dating always lead to marriage? As university students, where the majority of the population is non Jewish do you see dating as somewhat of a struggle?
Hila David
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