Intermarriage in Israel

This man has been living in Israel since he was 12, and he came from Russia. He fell in love with a girl who’s originally from Ethiopia but has been living in Israel since she was 5. the man says there was no problem with their relationship until he told his mother that they were getting married: the mother said she preferred that he would marry a white girl. There have always been tensions between European Jews and Sephardic Jews. Some of the barriers are breaking down but not for Ethiopians. The fiancee says this is not happening for Ethiopians and some people don’t believe that if she’s black that she can be Jewish. To complicate things even further, the man made a documentary about their relationship. The movie has many happy scenes, including the wedding itself. The film was well received but perhaps not in the way the couple intended. The film clearly started a conversation in the audience, some of whom were appalled at the racism. This film viewer says Israel has not come to grips with its own racism. The mother herself says she’s not the same person she was when the film was shot. She says her relationship with her daughter in law is better and she believes it strengthens Israel now when Jews from different backgrounds get married.