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Jewish Assimilation is a social and religious process of loss of the Jewish identity of an individual by marriage to a spouse that is not Jewish, or the abandonment of the Jewish religion to adopt another religion which is more common, and thus more acceptable at the new habitat of that individual. In reality the act of the assimilation comprises a number of elements: the assimilator will usually relinquish the Jewish values and embrace cultural customs of nations that are not Jewish.
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History
Enlightment (Haskala)
Jewish assimilation on an extensive scale began with Enlightment, which was given to Jews in Western Europe (mainly in Germany) at the beginning of 19th century. Reasons sited for this included hope to be assimilated better in the non-Jewish European communities (especially in the upper classes) and also due to the absence of a Jewish state in which they could realize their national religious identity.
First awareness
Assimilation has reached the earliest political debates in the emancipation era on whether and to what extent Jews should relinquish their right to difference in return for civic equality. Preserved within the concept are traces of the struggle between the Zionists and anti-Zionists and between the Judaism and Orthodox movements over the future form of a modern and sustainable Jewish consciousness.
Halakha
According to Halakha, when a Jewish man marries a non-Jew woman, their children are considered to be gentile. However when a Jewish woman marries a non-Jew man who does not undergo conversion, their children would be considered Jewish. Nonetheless, even in this case, the family is considered assimilated, since it will tend to adopt many of the husband's religious customs and lose Jewish customs and Jewish identities.
