Hebrew Union College announced on Thursday that rabbinical students can be married or in a significant relationship with a non-Jewish person and still be ordained as a rabbi, ending a long-standing ban on interfaith relationships among rabbinical students.
Hebrew Union College President Andrew Rehfeld said on Thursday, "A prohibition around Jewish exogamy is no longer rational because intermarriages can result in engaged Jewish couples,"
After 18 months of discussions between faculty, students, alumni, and the Reform Movement leadership, the unprecedented decision came with the realization that many cantorial students lead a Jewish lifestyle in a Jewish household with a non-Jewish partner.
According to a report by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), "We recognize that many Jewish individuals with non-Jewish partners maintain Jewish homes and are deeply engaged with Jewish life. We continue to expect students to commit to meaningful and substantive Jewish choices, including and exclusively Jewish home and family."
Although a significant number of Jews in Reform communities in America have been married to non-Jews for years, the prominent policy of all Jewish denominations has opposed marriages of rabbis to non-Jews, due to the expectation of a rabbi upholding Jewish values with a Jewish family.
The Hebrew Union College has said that it expects "that students with children raise them exclusively as Jews engaged with Jewish religious practice, education, and community. We believe these individuals should be welcomed into Hebrew Union College and into leadership roles."