Moses’ marriage has become the subject of much speculation in Reform circles recently. The websites of some of the most prominent outreach organizations in Jewish life, such as the Jewish Outreach Institute, Interfaith Family, and the Union for Reform Judaism all feature pieces about the putatively successful “intermarriage” between Moses and Tziporah.
Take the Union for Reform Judaism website. Here we read: “The Moses-[Tziporah] relationship is the biblical prototype for many interfaith families in our community. … Our community has been enriched by the countless individuals who, never having grown up Jewish, nonetheless have actively engaged in our community and, in their own way, help to ensure a vibrant future for our children and grandchildren.” To take another example, a Reform congregation in Calabasas, Calif., identifies itself by saying: “We are also ‘Mosaic’ in that we connect back to Moses, a Hebrew child, raised by Egyptians, who married a non-Jewish woman of color and became the leader of his people.”
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