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Irving Berlin’s 1926 interfaith marriage sparked a Jewish debate that, 100 years later, hasn’t gone away

JL;DR SUMMARY Irving Berlin's 1926 marriage to Ellin Mackay, a Roman Catholic heiress, ignited significant debate within the Jewish community, reflecting longstanding tensions surrounding interfaith marriages. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Interfaith MarriageConservative JudaismCultural IdentityAssimilationJewish American LifeCommunity ResponseIrving Berlin1920sCultural DebateEllin Mackay

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"Exactly 100 years ago, on Jan. 4, 1926, legendary American Jewish songwriter Irving Berlin married Ellin Mackay, a Roman Catholic heiress, in a civil ceremony in Manhattans City Hall."
Belarus
"Born Israel Baline in a shtetl in Belarus, he had arrived in America in 1893 at age five."
Roslyn, New York, United States
"For a wedding gift, John gave the couple a 648-acre estate in Roslyn, Long Island known as Harbor Hill, and Clarie spared no expense in building his new wife a dream house there."
Paris, Île-de-France, France
"While the couple was still in Paris, he was cornered at a cabaret by an American reporter."
New Jersey, United States
"His father, a cantor, worked as a meat cutter and a Hebrew tutor in New York; his mother was a midwife."

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Cairo Item ID 71777
Cairo Source ID 42
Retrieved 2026-01-02 18:00:20 UTC
Curated 2026-01-02 19:00:44 UTC