A column by Michael Powell in today's New York Times condemns Mayor de Blasio for appearing at a dinner of an Orthodox Jewish group, the Agudath Israel of America. Mr. Powell's column is flawed in at least two ways. He writes:
Rabbi Perlow offered a shower of condemnation for Reform and Conservative Jews, who he said were among those who "subvert and destroy the eternal values of our people." These movements, he said, "have disintegrated themselves, become oblivious, fallen into an abyss of intermarriage and assimilation."
"They will be relegated," he added, "to the dustbins of Jewish history."
This was a striking statement because a majority of the Jews in this city identify as non-Orthodox. The mayor himself proudly celebrates his own mixed-race marriage.
What does Mayor de Blasio's "mixed race marriage" have to do, at all, with Rabbi Perlow's condemnation of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews? Does the Times columnist think it is racist for Jews to oppose intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews? If so, the Times columnist may wish to be aware that Conservative Judaism and many Reform rabbis also oppose intermarriage, in part on the grounds that studies show children of intermarriage are less likely to remain Jews, which is important if (apparently unlike Mr. Powell), you place a high priority on the continuation of Judaism and the Jewish people. A difference between Jews opposing intermarriage and anyone opposing interracial marriage is that the opponents of intermarriage generally favor a conversion to Judaism for the previously non-Jewish spouse, while the opponents of interracial marriage have no conversion option. Most people who aren't Nazis don't think of Jews as a "race," and some Jewish readers, including this particular one, will have their hackles raised by the Times columnist injecting the word "race" into the question of continuing the Jewish people, which includes Ethiopian Jews, pale-skinned Jews, and swarthy Jews.
Another way the column is flawed is that it describes Rabbi Perlow's remarks as an attack on Reform and Conservative Jews. In fact the remarks — you can view a YouTube here — were primarily a criticism of a movement called Open Orthodoxy. There was also criticism of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which is an Orthodox institution. The comment about Reform and Conservative — Rabbi Perlow didn't even mention the words Conservative or Reform — was by way of an introduction, almost an aside.
The rest of the column makes clear that Mr. Powell regards Orthodox Jews as nothing more than a bunch of child-molesting sponges of taxpayer dollars, which is a remarkably crude condemnation of a large group of diverse individuals. Mr. Powell tries to paint the Orthodox Jews as bigots for opposing intermarriage, but if there's anyone here whose prejudices could use some self-examination it's not the Orthodox Jews but the Times columnist.