Abstract
Keren McGinity surveys intermarriage throughout Jewish history and the modern and contemporary concerns with it. McGinity argues that discussions of Jewish identity have ignored "how gender and change over time influenced the meaning and experience of Jewish intermarriage." As a result, she focuses on the life experiences of Jewish men who intermarried between 1991 and 2008, leading to several important findings. After becoming fathers, many men experienced a Jewish identity reawakening, but one that was not cast in specifically religious terms. Second, some men found a great hierarchy within the Jewish community, which curbed their involvement in organized Jewish life. Finally, "intermarried men's Jewish lives were hampered by traditional family dynamics and the American imperative to make money. Their identities as Jewish men and fathers were likewise influenced by social constraints on their gender roles."
