Jewish Marriage and Family

Professor Davis’ talk today centered around the focus of marriage and American Jewry in the twentieth century. American Jewish counselors of the time were less concerned about divorce and more concerned about intermarriage and the continuity of the Jewish people. During the 1930’s, synagogue memberships and religious participation were way down, while labor activism was on the rise. However, post-WWII, religious interest picked up. America was seen as an active pluralistic society.
During this time, a focus took place regarding Jewish family and marriages. Americans at this time were worried about the future of marriages: changes in gender roles were occuring, and young people had new freedoms not available to their parents’ generation. Divorce rates at this time were higher then ever before, and women, due to increased economic and educational opportunities, were more likely to divorce their husbands if they were unhappy.
To save marriages, marriage counseling developed (among many different religious groups, not just Jews.) While in Protestantism, their focus was to get savvy about discussing sexuality among members and prevent divorce, Reform Jews had a much different focus. Since laws about matters like intercourse and niddah had been in Jewish texts for many generations, this was not of prime concern. Again, survival, and not stability, was the cornerstone of Jewish marriage counseling.