Will you officiate at an intercultural or interfaith marriage? Yes!
"Very few rabbis will participate in an interfaith marriage ceremony. Most rabbis view intermarriage as destructive
to the survival of the Jewish people. They feel that their participation would aid in this destruction. Rabbis who officiate
at intermarriage ceremonies do so out of the conviction that we will gain far more for Judaism by welcoming interfaith couples
than by rejecting them. Still, for any rabbi to participate involves much soul searching and risks the misunderstanding of
other rabbis as well as among the Jewish people. My conscience permits me to participate where all parties are willing to
understand the need to respect strong sensitivities."*
Is it possible to have a clergyperson of another faith participate in the ceremony? Yes!
"Jews today still remember crimes committed against them in the past by those who were labeled 'Christian.' People who murdered
and persecuted Jews, within the lifetime of some adults still living today often used Christian symbols. Thus, there is uneasiness
associated with Christian symbols. Words like Christian, Church, Trinity, and Christ evoke, most unfortunately, associations,
which are exclusionary or hostile to Jews. Jews do not kneel, except on Yom Kippur, and even then, it is rare. Communion,
in a service intended to unite a couple, would certainly seem inappropriate, when only one partner from the couple could participate."*
"In Judaism, the exchange of the rings is the central portion, even as in Catholicism, the exchange of vows is the central
element. Other Jewish symbols usually included are the sharing of wine (symbolizing the cup of life); the use of the Hebrew
seven blessings; a wedding canopy or chuppah (symbolizing the home to be established); the breaking of a glass at the conclusion
of the ceremony; and the wearing of kipot (head coverings). These last two are folkways; the symbolism is obscure and need
not be verbalized as part of the ceremony. Often, the service is concluded with a three-part blessing based on Numbers 6:22-26.
If a representative of another faith is present, the rabbi might recite the Hebrew and a priest or minister, the English."*
