¹Because of the comparatively small number of RRA members and the possibility of sampling error, care should be taken in drawing inferences from these numbers both here and in the data that follow.

²The total number of respondents, as well as the total number for each category, differs from the sum of CCAR and RRA respondents because four respondents belong to both organizations.

Summary of Rabbinic Center for Research and Counseling 1995 Survey

December 29, 1995 Irwin H. Fishbein, Rabbi, D. Min.

This survey has a threefold purpose: 1) to determine the present position of the Reform and Reconstructionist rabbinate on officiating at intermarriages, 2) to compare data with previous Rabbinic Center surveys and 3) to update the list of rabbis who officiate at intermarriages. A questionnaire with four levels of participation and non_participation in intermarriage ceremonies and eighteen conditions of officiating was sent by first class mail to 1794 rabbinic members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA). Of this number, 1651 are members of the CCAR and 167 are members of the RRA. Twenty-four rabbis belong to both organizations.

Of the 710 respondents, representing a 40% response rate, 334 or 47% officiate at intermarriages under specified conditions, 274 or 39% do not officiate but are willing to refer to rabbis who do, and 102 or 14% neither officiate nor refer. A comparison of CCAR and RRA respondents indicates that CCAR members officiate more frequently (48% compared to 38%) but that, when categories of officiation and referral are combined, 89% of RRA members refer compared with 86% of CCAR members (see Table 1).

TABLE 1

COMPARISON OF CCAR AND RRA RESPONDENTS 1995
POSITION	CCAR		RRA		CCAR/RRA TOTAL
POSITION	#	%	#	%	#	%
OFFICIATE	318	48	24	38	334	47
REFER	245	37	32	51	274	39
DO NOT REFER	96	15	7	11	102	14
TOTAL RESPONDENTS	659	100	63	100	710[1]	100

Of the 334 rabbis who officiate, 231 or 69% were willing to have their names on the list of C.C.A.R. and R.R.A. Rabbis Who Officiate at Intermarriages, while 103 or 31% requested that their names not be on the list. The list contained 220 rabbis in 1990, 202 in 1986, 178 in 1982, 159 in 1978, 119 in 1973, 78 in 1971 and 61 in 1969. Since 1969 the number of rabbis on the list has more than quadrupled, while the number of Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis has not quite doubled (see Table 2).

TABLE 2

RESPONDENTS WHO OFFICIATE AT INTERMARRIAGES 1982-1995
POSITION	1982		1986		1990		1995		1995		1995
	CCAR		CCAR		CCAR/RRA		CCAR		RRA		CCAR/RRA
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
LIST	178	61	202	73	220	62	221	69	17	71	231	69
NON-LIST	115	39	76	27	135	38	97	31	7	29	103	31
TOTAL OFFICIANTS	293	100	278	100	355	100	318	100	24	100	334¹	100

Of the 710 respondents, 334 or 47% officiate, compared to 44% in 1990 and 50% in 1986 and 1982; 274 or 39% refer, compared to 38% in 1990, 32% in 1986 and 31% in 1982; and 96 or 14% do not refer, compared to 18% in 1990 and 1986 and 19% in 1982. The historical data show that a small but a steady increase in the percentage of rabbis who are willing to refer to other rabbis and a corresponding decrease in the percentage of rabbis who do not refer (see Table 3).

COMPARISON OF CCAR AND RRA RESPONDENTS 1982-1995
POSITION	1982		1986		1990						1995
	CCAR		CCAR		CCAR		RRA		CCAR/RRA		CCAR/RRA
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
OFFICIATE	293	50	278	50	335	46	23	34	355	44	334	47
REFER	180	31	174	32	265	36	34	52	302	38	274	39
DO NOT REFER	109	19	100	18	129	18	8	13	141	18	102	14
TOTAL RESPONDENTS	582	100	552	100	729	100	65	99	798	100	710	100

Compared to the 1990 survey, there has been a 4% decrease in respondents who participate with non_Jewish clergy and a very slight decrease of 1% in those who officiate in churches where Christian symbols are visible. However, two categories have changed significantly. C.C.A.R. respondents who require a commitment to establish a Jewish home and/or raise children as Jews have decreased from 64% in 1990 to 42% in the current survey and those who require the rabbi to be the only officiant have decreased from 62% to 43%. The present survey indicates that, while the percentages in these two categories have declined for Reconstructionist rabbis, the decline has been much more gradual than for Reform rabbis. Reconstructionist rabbis continue to maintain a more traditional stance than their Reform colleagues with respect to these two conditions (see Table 4).