Marrying Owner of Non-Kosher Restaurant
I met a nice Jewish guy on a Jewish dating site and he and I very much want to get married. We love each other and both agree we are a perfect match. My parents think highly of him and his family and are hopeful we will get married. I am modern orthodox and he is not orthodox at all and has no desire to become orthodox, but he has a strong Jewish identity and some orthodox relatives he is close to. I am fine with that. I can accept him regardless of his level of observance. He is willing to move to the eruv area and let our home be kosher if we were to marry and send any kids we have to orthodox schools. The issue I am wondering about is he owns a well known non-kosher restaurant and his clientele is largely non-observant Jews. He also caters weddings and bar mitzvahs of non-orthodox Jews, some of them being intermarriages. If I were to marry him, I would benefit from the income he makes from his non-kosher business that is his livelihood. Is there a problem with me marrying him then? I don’t make enough money to sustain a household myself, and most of our income would come from his restaurant.
Answers
First, please accept my Mazal Tov wishes!
The issues that you are asking about are involved and complex and do not really lend themselves to a forum such as this. Personally, I think that they should be discussed with a local authority who is both wise and sensitive, who will be able to help you navigate your way through the various possible problems.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team