Jewish assimilation

Jewish assimilation (התבוללות, hitbolelut) refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conformity as a potential solution to historic Jewish marginalization. In Israel, Hitbolelut is a derogatory term that mainly refers to the highly uncommon Jewish interfaith couples within it, which in turn gets local criticism for and marked as anti-Zionism (anti-Israel); especially when the coupling is done with the clashing nationalism of Arabs who are predominantly Muslims and of Palestinian ancestry – mainly because of the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict, which began even prior to the declaration of independence by the State of Israel in 1948. Professor of Modern Jewish History Todd Endelman (2015) used the following terms to describe various forms of Jewish assimilation: Radical assimilation: 'an umbrella term referring to all the routes Jews traveled to lose their Jewishness, whether that was their intention or not'. Conversion: 'the religious act of formally embracing Christianity'. Secession: 'the act of legally withdrawing from the Jewish community—whether or not conversion to Christianity followed.' Endelman noted that secession did not become available until the late 19th century, and only in Central Europe (German Empire and Austria-Hungary). Intermarriage: 'the union between a Christian and Jew'. Endelman excluded marriages between baptized Jews and Christians or between Jews and ex-Christians from this definition, since they were legally and religiously considered 'endogamous'. Passing: 'the attempt to flee the Jewish community by assuming a non-Jewish identity and hiding evidence of a Jewish birth and upbringing'. According to Endelman, most people in this category never converted to Christianity, because that would have revealed they had once been Jews.