Sigh

bar_dicaprioThe Internets have been fairly abuzz after publication of a letter by right-wing firebrand Baruch Marzel’ urging Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli not to marry her on again, off again, on again beau, actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In that letter, Marzel, writing on behalf of Lehava, an organization he runs to help Jewish women extricate themselves from relationships with non-Jewish men, urges Rafaeli not to marry DiCaprio. Marzel writes:

“It is not by chance that you were born Jewish,” wrote Baruch Marzel in a letter he sent Refaeli through her mother (and that promptly appeared in the press). “Your grandmother and her grandmother did not dream that one of their descendants would one day remove the family’s future generations from the Jewish people. Assimilation has forever been one of the enemies of the Jewish people.” … This isn’t personal, wrote Marzel, who was careful to open his letter stressing that he “has nothing against Mr. DiCaprio, who I have no doubt is a talented actor.” Still, he implores Refaeli: “Come to your senses, look forward and back too — and not only the present. Don’t marry Leonardo DiCaprio, don’t harm the future generations.”

Won’t someone think of the children bubbes? Oh the humanity! The problem here isn’t that a concerned individual has taken upon himself to urge a Jewish woman not to marry a non-Jew. People do that all the time. The problem is that this exhortation has received international attention. Ignoramuses the world over believe that Judaism is racist! Never mind that the desire to avoid mixed marriage has nothing to do with race, one can hardly find any place that this has been reported where there aren’t a significant number of comments deriding Marzel for his racism.

The other problem is that Marzel is in fact a racist! Lehava does not seem to be concerned with Jewish men bedding gentile women. Marzel himself claims to have been the right-hand man of Meir Kahane, acting as a spokesman for the American rabbi’s Kach organization for ten years until it was outlawed in Israel for being racist and branded in the US as a terrorist organization.

So yes, by all means if I could send out a personal message to Bar, please don’t marry Leonardo DiCaprio. Mixed marriages are fraught with complications and celebrity marriages are already complicated enough as it is (especially judging by how often you and Leonardo break up)! Of course your children, should you have any, will be fully Jewish, but Bar, will they even identify as Jews once they become adults? Never mind that Marzel nut job. Never mind your bubbes. Don’t marry Leonardo because it’s in your best interest not to.

Oh and also because Leonardo is reportedly gay. You really want to spend the rest of your life as Leo’s beard? Wow. What a waste of your uhm… assets that would be.

Follow me

About the author

ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

45 Comments

  • This article seems like another attempt to blame antisemitism on members of the Jewish nationalist camp (or “racists”, as the author claims). I don’t agree with Marzel’s opinion on Bar & DiCaprio, nor do I really care if she marries him or not. But any attempt to blame Marzel for causing “Ignoramuses the world over believe that Judaism is racist” is ridiculous and unfair. Why don’t we take an honest look at who’s really causing people to believe this message: terrorist groups and anti-Israel activists all over the world.

  • not sure if it’s true 100% but i was told that r kahane once said in a public appearance:
    yes this is true we, jews are racist and we welcome everybody to join us in our racism.

  • Intermarriage is not a great in general and is in that gray area between religious intermarriage and racial intermarriage hence the conflict, but no Jew has the right to tell another Jew (especially one not related to them) who to marry or not marry. Additionally, I don’t like that one LA times article can be generalized to “Intermarriage is bad.” To wit: three out of our seven Hillel board members in college and the most active people (including me) were products of intermarriage. (which, again, doesn’t mean intermarriage is good.) It’s complicated.

  • As a Jew in an intermarriage, I don’t think Bar should marry Leo. They do have idiotism and good looks in common, but that’s not enough. I just don’t need DeCraprio feeling as his marriage to an Israeli gives him any right to spout garbage in Israel like he does here in the states. And we don’t need more stupid, but good looking Jewish women in NY either.

    Is intermarriage complicated? Yes. Is marriage complicated? F*** yeah. Do I love my gentile wife? Of course. Will my children be Jewish? Definitely. Will they be hardcore, right wing Zionists? You bet your ass. Would I get intermarried again having hindsight? No way.

    Does this site have a heavy lefty slant? Yes. Does this site continuously disparage right wing Jews and Israeli? You bet your ass.

  • Calling Judaism “racist” for wanting to ensure it’s survival as a religion/culture by supporting in-faith marriages is short-sighted, and a convenient scapegoat for people who look to blame religious groups for all the world’s problems.

    Similarly, calling *all* interfaith marriages “fraught with complications” on the basis of one ridiculously idiotic custody battle that is in part getting media attention *because* of the novelty and soap opera antics is a convenient scapegoat for people who look to blame some over-generalized idea of intermarriage for all of Judaism’s problems.

    • Rachel: That idiotic custody battle scenario happens more often than you think. Except in most cases the husband doesn’t invite a TV crew to follow him as he baptizes a Jewish child in brazen violation of a court order. At this very moment, I am aware of no less than three women who married or had children with non-Jewish men, broke up or divorced said men, and are engaged in fierce custody battles in which religion is an issue despite the fact that there was prior agreement that the child/children involved would be raised Jewish. Intermarriage is not the cause of all Judaism’s problems. It’s an effect reflective of a deeper malaise. These deeper issues ought to be addressed and dealt with of course, and while I will always be friendly and welcoming to intermarried couples, I’d never, ever encourage such a union. And it’s not because I’m racist! Anyhow Rachel, have fun in Rome. I was just there and if I would have had the time I would have loved to see just what exactly the Pope has hidden away in the basement that was sacked from the Jews…

  • First of all: Leonardo is NOT gay. If he was, he wouldn’t date stupid models like Bar (LOL).
    Second: You don’t even have to worry about him marrying that girl. They will certainly split again.

    • He may date stupid models but his heart belongs to Toby McGuire: “Here comes the Spiderman!”

  • I bet her female ancestors she inherited the Slavic blonde (true blonde) hair and blue eyes from would be greatly displeased.

    Please, feel free not to note the irony.

  • I’m a dirty blond with blue eyes thanks to my mother’s Russian father. A little mix in the gene pool is good for us. With that said, we don’t need more stupidity in the gene pool. We have plenty of that. In fact, 75% of American Jews have unfortunately tarnished our exceptionalism.

  • “Dirty blond” is a euphemism for “reddish blond”. 😉 Blonde hair and blue eyes are recessive traits as far as I’ve read, so they must “appear” in both lines of the family; stupidity, then again, is not hereditary – it’s a genuine achievement. 😀

  • Yeah, dirty blond here is more like light brown, dark blond hair. I have no ginger in my family nor hair. 🙂

    • So far I’ve seen it as a byword for “strawberry blonde”. And thanks to Cartman, we know that gingers have no souls. 😀

  • Is intermarriage bad for the Jews? Of course it is but most Jews who intermarry don’t want anything to do with Judaism so good riddance. Bar is one of those. She’s a draft and tax dodger from a very secular family. Bar doesn’t care one whit about Judaism or Israel. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if she converted to Christianity to please Leonardo Dicaprio. Who cares? Both of them are idiots. Beauty fades but stupidity last forever.

    No AlexK your children won’t be Jewish. They will be gentiles just like their mother. Don’t be delusional. Non-Jewish women can’t give birth to or raise Jewish children. That’s the truth and nothing can change it.

    • Alina, since that rule has only been around since the early rabbinical period, you’d be amazed to see what notorious figures of / in Jewish history have got non-Jewish mothers. On top of that, there only have been mandatory birth records from the Council of Trent on (16th century CE), but that was for Catholics, and those keep the oldest known and continually kept records of lineage. I know many Americans that cannot even trace their family back more than three generations, even in traditional settings. Hubris is not truth.

  • They can’t marry at all. He is already married to me in the Catholic Church and he can’t marry other women. This is too. She is a jew and she’s not the same religion with him but the thing is he’s already married to me with GOD. She can’t have him anymore.

  • Wow Alina, thanks for convincing me. And I was worried that I may not adhere to a relatively modern Oral Law passed by men who claim to represent the will of a g-d I’m not sure exists. Yeah, convincing indeed. They’ll be what they’re raised and if there is a g-d, he can tell me or them that they’re not Jewish at the appropriate time. And dat is the truph dawg!

  • I agree that hubris is not truth and that applies to your comments. My comments are absolutely the truth. ONLY JEWISH WOMEN CAN GIVE BIRTH TO AND RAISE JEWISH CHILDREN. Sorry to burst your anti-Jewish women beliefs but gentile women can’t perform the role that Jewish women were born to do.

    Face it AlexK your children are gentiles. That’s the reality so deal with it. Why do even care that you have that non-Jewish children? You obviously believe that gentile genes are superior to Jewish genes. No wonder you picked a non-Jewish Aryan wife. You should be happy that your children are Aryan and not Jewish since you believe that Jews are inferior.

    • Sorry to burst your ignorant bubble, but knowledge is not genetically hereditary, which your ignorance of Jewish history demonstrates rather strikingly.

      If you want to find a spouse, stop being cranky and bitter.

  • “A little mix in the gene pool is good for us.” Sounds pretty anti-semitic to me. That’s why it’s obvious that you believe that non-Jews are superior to Jews.

  • You’re the ignoramus here. You would attack me because I’m a Jewish woman which you obviously don’t like. I’m cranky and bitter because I don’t like Jewish women and Judaism being attacked? You sound like a bitter old man. Btw I’m married. I’m sure you’re not and I can see why.

  • i’ve seen an awful lot of chatter about bar not being very bright, but not any proof.

    • X, I suppose there are two factors: a) jealousy, b) resentment over her evading serving in the IDF.

      I believe that even people that occasionally appear like a bubblehead usually wouldn’t be able make it to the top if they weren’t actually smart; not necessarily book smart, but smart in knowing how to interact with people.

  • Personally who cares if they marry that is their right as human beings. We all have no right to say who they both should marry regardless… and big deal “one” jew out of millions i don’t think we should all worry about the gene-pool either. I have many friends that have married inter-faith and inter-race …they have loving and long-lasting relationships some lasting 40years.. soo this illusion that they are eventually going to split is totally wrong. Its up to each partner to make any relationship work.. and if it does work.. they are true multi-taskers in life and we can all learn from this ..i sure have

  • “You’re not fooling anyone?” What the heck are you talking about? The only one spewing venom here is you. I thought you were a man because you are so agressive. Imagine my surprise to learn that you’re a middle-aged woman. I hope that in 20-30 years, I’m 25, I don’t become hateful and nonsensical as you.

    You attacked my comments about Jewish women = Jewish children because you’re mother isn’t Jewish and neither are you. You obviously hate Jewish women and feel te need to attack us.

    I can’t believe that a genitle like you is lecturing me about Judasim. That’s hilarious! You’re the one that needs professional help because it’s obvious you’re delusional.

    • Alina, get your act together. A few manners couldn’t hurt either. And whoever told you I am a middle-aged woman is as ill-informed as you are.

  • I have to agree with froylein. While I agree that Judaism is passed down matrilineally, I also believe in the notion of Derech Eretz Kadma Leh Torah. I’m sure our brilliant Torah scholar Alina can figure out what that means.

  • If one wants race purity then they themselves must prove to the world without a shadow of a doubt that they are pure. SHAME on you Baruch Marzel The world has heard those words before and to say them again is a great sin against HUMANITY. We are one race, One world, One sun that shine on us all, One moon of soft light in the darkness for us all. I pray that GOD will open your eyes. One love Baruch your brother in humanity

  • CK: Idiotic custody battles are commonplace, though, I would think. It doesn’t have to be an intermarriage issue to get these scorned lovers into a tiff, especially when there are children involved.

    I, too, would prefer that more Jews marry other Jews over non-Jews, but I don’t feel I’m in the position to tell individuals how to live their lives. If Marzel is any indication, I’d probably come off sounding self-righteous and foolish.

    But I don’t believe that either you or he are racist. People throw that word around too often when they can’t think of rational ways to bolster their arguments.

  • Dear all,

    You may calm down, you have nothing to worry about, especially the Jewish people here. Where did you get the idea that they were going to marry? They are not even engaged!!! They are just having an affair. She’s just another Giselle. Take it easy!

  • Anyone notice, if it’s real, the post made by Livia Bistriceanu? Isn’t she the one who he files a restraining order against?

  • Alina, please back up your statement that children born to a Jewish man and a Gentile woman can’t be Jewish. I bet Moses would be upset about you saying his children weren’t Jewish. She was — according to Numbers Chapter 12 verse 1 – a Cushite.

    • A Cushite who presumably took on the Jewish religion fully and completely. I doubt she was worshipping her Cushite Gods while they were wandering around in the Sinai…

  • I married a Catholic girl (baptised and raised Catholic) who had three Jewish grandparents, the only one not Jewish was her maternal grandmother (the most important one). After we married she decided to convert without me knowing she had decided. After she was finished we got married in Schul and our son (now 17) was brought up knowing he was Jewish and was also Barmitzvah. But for some reason she (now my ex) registered him at school as having no religion. I was very annoyed about this but as we were divorced by then and she had custody I couldnt do anything about it. But during the 13years we were together there were never any problems between us because of our religions, neither before nor after her conversion. So it does work but the people have to understand each other much much more than two from the same religion.

  • Oh yeah, my girlfriend of twelve years was also raised Catholic although she left the church a few years back she still is (I met her six months after my divorce). Her Dad was in Hitlers navy and knows I am Jewish but we all get on like a house on fire. (I live in Vienna, Austria btw) None of her family have ever had any objections to me or have ever said anything remotely antisemitic in my presence, but I think they are not the sort of people to be like that anyway. So you see it can also work also with non-Jewish familys. At the beginning I thought I was an outsider but they treated me as one of the family from the start.