Virtually all rabbis, even the Reform ones, erect obstacles to prevent Jews from marrying people where one of the people is not willing to convert to Judaism. Even when the couple is strongly committed to raising their children Jewish, rabbis seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for the interfaith couple to be married in a Jewish ceremony by a rabbi. This is shortsighted and wrong-headed. It is as if the rabbis believe that their refusal to perform a Jewish marriage ceremony for an interfaith couple is the one thing that will prevent intermarriage. If that were true, there might be some validity to their irrational policy. However, this is clearly not the case. Fifty percent or more Jewish people are already “voting with their feet” and electing to marry a non-Jew and without a Jewish marriage ceremony. So, it’s clear that the policy followed by most rabbis regarding the conduct of a Jewish wedding ceremony for interfaith couples is not having the intended effect. More importantly, why do we continually go out of our way to make the interfaith couple feel unwelcomed to Jewish worship and practice? If Jews are already choosing to marry non-Jewish without a Jewish ceremony, why not do whatever we can to support the Jewish partner’s decision to raise the children Jewish and make the couple feel comfortable and welcomed in the synagogue? Once again, it is as if we never miss the opportunity to miss the opportunity to make interfaith couples feel welcomed and to support the Jewish partner’s decision to raise the children as Jews. This is another reason why the existing Jewish establishment is inadequate in both its training and skill set to deal with important issues of today.