Wordless Wednesday Wedding
Real estate heirs Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner recently wed, but they faced a bump in the road in early 2008, when Kushner's family reportedly had concerns that Trump was not Jewish. Soon after the pair reunited, Trump converted to Judaism, which requires discipline, commitment, and of course faith. In fact, Trump and Kushner were wed in a Jewish ceremony in New Jersey. A few days after the wedding, the groom's parents hosted a Sheva Brachot, a Jewish wedding blessing. It was another celebration for an ambitious couple that now shares the same religion.
The love story of Trump and Kushner reminded me of many conversations I shared with friends while philosophizing in the hallways of our college dorm at the George Washington University in the late 1990s. I had many Jewish, Catholic, and Hindu friends. Our religions were completely different. Although most of us were willing -- and did in fact -- date outside of our religion, we ultimately ended up marrying people of the same faith (and in my case the same culture, too). Often back then, however, we discussed the possibility of changing our religion for our husband or wife. I even wrote a feature about this very subject for my college newspaper. My friend Seth Greenberg always said, "You can't pick who you fall in love with." I always remembered his words. So true! But you can change your religion for him or her. Would you change your religion for love?
*That* is an excellent question! It really deserves a lot of thought and soul-searching (on both parties’ part), and shouldn’t be blithely skipped over when a couple begins to really get serious about a life together.
Great post, Francesca!
She must really love him to undergo this change. I don’t think I could do it. I am a Protestant, so I could deal with following any Christian faiths, but couldn’t imagine converting to Judaism or any of the other world religions, but I would definitely respect my significant other’s religious beliefs.
Love trumps all, as it should! Wonderful post.
My spouse and I have very different religions, but neither one of us is actively practicing our beliefs. So, for us, religion was not an issue…(I don’t think we even talked about changing religions.)
That’s really an important issue. If you’re not all that religious, it might not seem important while you’re dating. But then when you have kids and it comes time to decide how to raise them, all of a sudden it seems more important, and can be a real source of problems for interfaith couples.
I could not change my religion, even for love, and I would not ask anyone to do that for me.
I know people who have done that. I wouldn’t, but it seems to work for some folks.
Neither my husband or I attend church of a particular faith. I have spiritual or pagan leanings and my husband toggles back and forth between agnostic and atheist. No way could I convert to his “lack” of faith. And I don’t ask him to change his ways for me either… he wouldn’t anyway.
I suppose I have
It’s become such an integral part of my life I couldn’t imagine ever changing again for any reason.