Jewish Weddings

Jewish Knotties: Can you help puzzle this out for me

I was doing some geneology research for a friend, and found her parent's marriage records online. The records that her parents who are definitely not Jewish were married in a Synagogue by a Rabbi.

Are there any situations where a Rabbi would marry two non-Jews? She'd ask her parents and Grandparents, but they are all dead and her parents were only children.

Wierd question, but she's extremely puzzled.

TIA
"Who died and made you Dagon?" - stackeye210 I'm supposed to be falling for myself...and not falling for just any guy out there in the world.....

Re: Jewish Knotties: Can you help puzzle this out for me

  • edited December 2011
    i can't think of any scenario where a rabbi would marry two non-jews.  it's just not a possibility i could ever imagine taking place. 

    there are a few possibilties here:

    1. she has misread the record.   does the marriage record explicitely state that they were married in a synaoggue by a rabbi?  what exactly does the record say about the location and officiant?  sometimes synagogues are converted to churches and vice versa.  i've heard of some places where the word "synagogue" remains in the name of the new church.  also, could your friend have mis-read the title of the officiant?  (ie. does it actually say "Rabbi" or is it a diminutive like "Rev" "Rab" etc?)  in some languages these titles look similar to christian clergy titles.  


    2. the other possibility is that your friend's parents WERE Jewish at one point, but chose for some reason to "convert" to christianity and raise their children that way without telling them about their jewish past.

    over the centuries many jews have chosen to leave behind their religion as a way to avoid persecution and stigma.  this may be what happened for your friends' parents, in which case, she is technically Jewish and has a claim to that history and heritage should she wish to embrace it.  

    if her parents were in fact jewish, it's an interesting story for your friend to pursue, and not an uncommon one. 

    i'm curious to know how it all turns out!  keep us posted?
  • edited December 2011
    It states " Temple SomethingSomeother" and "Rabbi FirstName LastName". I googled the Temple. It still exists, but that Rabbi is long gone. He's listed in the history page for the Temple's website as being a former Rabbi.

    So, I'm wondering if it may be scenario #2. That would be extremely interesting to her, I think.

    I'll keep you guys updated!



    "Who died and made you Dagon?" - stackeye210 I'm supposed to be falling for myself...and not falling for just any guy out there in the world.....
  • edited December 2011
    yup,you're right.   it was definitely a synagogue, and definitely a rabbi.

    using the term "temple" to denote a synagogue tells us that it was most likely a Reform rabbi at a Reform temple who married them.  in this case there's a (slim) chance that one of her parents was Jewish and the other was not.  some reform rabbis will perform intermarriages like this, especially in the USA.  Regardless, there's a good chance that at least one, if not both of her parents was Jewish.  If it turns out her mother was Jewish then your friend would be considered Jewish by most authorities.  If one parents was jewish and it was her father it gets a bit trickier to claim the heritage, but not impossible.

    oooh!  i'm so curious to know what happens.  Thanks for keeping us posted!
  • tenofcups4metenofcups4me member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow, I bet that's pretty surprising for her!

    It sounds like one or both probably was Jewish and later converted.

    If you continue to go back further, you should be able to establish if either or both of the parents (or their parents) were Jewish by looking at census records -- while there isn't a space for religion in the ones from the early 20th century, there is a space for native language and if you run across Yiddish, you have an answer. Also if you can continue to track back to immigration records, those usually do indicate Jewish as "race."

    Please do keep us updated! (And I've been doing genealogy research for the past few years now -- not an expert by any means, but I'm happy to help you if you need anything. I can't tell from your post if you're an old hand at this or if this is new to you. Smile)
  • edited December 2011
    That is really interesting. I also hope you will keep us posted.

    I would guess it was scenario #2 and they were married by a rabbi to keep one of the families happy. My mom was raised Catholic and when my parents got married, her uncle (who is a priest) performed the ceremony in Hawaii. It wasn't a Catholic ceremony (since it was outside the church) but he still had to register their marriage with the diocese in Hawaii. They did it that way to make my mom's family happy. But I was raised Jewish by both parents. So it could be the reverse situation for your friend.
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