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Will She Convert?

The groom’s family may contain a clue (or not)

by
Marc Tracy
July 28, 2010
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Rhinebeck, New York, the site of the nuptials.Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Rhinebeck, New York, the site of the nuptials.Chris Hondros/Getty Images

We know Chelsea Clinton is getting married to the tastefully named Marc Mezvinsky this Sunday Saturday; we know the wedding will take place in Rhinebeck, New York; we know some of the people who will be there; we know how the uninvited feel; we even know (courtesy @daroff) that the bride’s mother, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is already in the state.

What we don’t know, and what the Jewish community seems to want to know, is: Will Chelsea convert for her Jewish husband?

I don’t know! But one clue could be to know whether the Mezvinskys—the only Jews who could at least be argued to have an actual personal stake in whether Chelsea remains Methodist—are likely to care every bit as much as we do. Here’s what we got: In 1996, the groom’s mother, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a onetime congressperson, disclosed that she was raised Reform; that her then-husband (now ex-husband), Edward Mezvinsky, was raised “very Orthodox”; and that as a compromise they chose to raise the kinder as Conservative.

That’s it. That’s all I got. There’s your speculation, as it were, for the day. Who knows, maybe we’ll have more tomorrow!

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.