Proof

In the following excerpt Daniel Cohen discusses an issue that is very relevant in contemporary Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative Jewish communities: intermarriage.

Daniel and Nathalie Cohen's wedding was the second union of two individuals born and raised within the Jewish Community of El Salvador.

The second in the community's entire history.
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(So Rabbi Gustavo [Kraselnik] married you. And this is the same rabbi who wouldn’t marry your brother because he was marrying a non-Jew?)

Right.

(How did that make you feel?)

(pause) It made me feel a little strange.

(Did your brother get married after you or before?)

Before. It made me feel strange. It was tough to accept. It’s tough to accept somebody—I really like him. I really like him. I really respect him. I enjoy his spiritual leadership. But it’s also hard to accept somebody that does not understand your brother, or doesn’t quite understand where your brother’s coming from. So I had to put that aside.

(Now, your kids are very involved in the synagogue, but their cousins are not. How do you feel about that?)

I hope they get more involved. I think they will. I think my brother’s missing in his heart a little bit of the Jewish tradition that he wants to pass on to his kids. I hope they go. I hope to go to Noar [Shelanu].

(Do you ever talk to him about it?)

Yeah, yeah. We’re working on, like, you know, patching things up a little. It was tough for him to find a hard stance, like we spoke about, here in El Salvador, so that created a few antibodies in his heart towards the community. But I think we’re ready to move on.

(How do you feel?)

It’s tough. It’s tough, because I really enjoy the Jewish community, but on the other hand, I really hope they can accommodate my brother’s situation.

(Do you think there are a lot of situations like your brother’s here in Salvador?)

Yes.

(It’s a tiny community.)

It’s a tiny community. It’s tiny and lively. It’s different. People come here from other countries and I don’t know if it’s too, you know, compliment because they’re here as guests or if they’re really saying it from the heart, but people come here and they say it’s completely different. Here, it’s like going into somebody’s house. It’s lively and there’s kids running around and everybody knows each other and a guests come along and everybody starts talking to them, everybody’s like, “Where are you from? What do you do? What are you doin’ here? Come over for dinner.” That’s what it’s like here. So it’s small, but it’s good that way, too.

(And you think the community is capable of breaking down these issues regarding intermarriage?)

I think it’s gonna have to. I think it’s gonna have to. It’s tough for me to think also like, you know, can we let everybody in? It’s also tough for me to think, can you exclude anybody?

(It’s hard. How do you feel, though, about intermarriage generally? Here in Salvador it’s almost necessary.)

Yeah, it’s tough. It’s super-tough. The way I feel about it is that it’s super-tough to marry a Jewish person here. If you don’t import, where are you gonna find one? I feel really lucky that I was one of the few, one of the only people that found somebody from this community to marry.

(There’s only been two marriages like yours, including yours. You and Nathalie and Lillian and Jack Davidson.)

Yeah, that’s it.

(So it’s living proof that—)

Yeah. Living proof. Living proof that it’s really hard.

Transcript by Sandy Adler, Adler Enterprises LLC.