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 CHAPTER
FIVE:Those Who don’t Fit the Model: Family Situations and Status
in Judaism and the Jewish World
6B. Intermarriage in the Monotheistic World
In the medieval period, the great Jewish authorities acknowledged that
the situation had changed for the world as an outcome of monotheism. Christians
and Moslems were no longer to be termed idol-worshippers, like the pagan
peoples of old. But the absolute prohibition on intermarriage remained.
 The collective
identity of the Jewish people became very much tied up with the concept
of a people who kept themselves apart from all marriage with non-Jews.
- This image was reinforced by the fact that, of the many Jews who
left Judaism through history, - and there were many – large numbers
turned against the Jews and joined the ranks of the persecutors. Much
of Jewish history was indeed played out against a background of persecution.
- In many periods, a feeling of “us and them” thus developed,
where non-Jews were regarded, not merely as people of different practices
or of rivals in religious faith, but as enemies in a cosmic struggle
for truth and an earthly struggle for survival. The lines were drawn;
the enemy was all around and with them must be set clear limits on interaction.
- This tallied, of course, with the corresponding feeling of non-Jews,
particularly Christians, that mixing with the Jews was a phenomenon
not to be encouraged.
The Jewish psyche was therefore forged out of a feeling that marriage
with non-Jews was a sin to be avoided at all costs. Those who intermarried
must either cast off their wives or leave the Jewish people forever.
This
does not mean that converts to Judaism were not accepted. As long
as they were sincere, and as long as they understood the implications
of their actions, they were accepted. There are stories of many righteous
converts who joined the Jews throughout history.
But in terms of marriage, the borders were clearly defined:
- There was an inner ring within Judaism defining the limits of marriages
which Judaism considered acceptable. Anything inside that ring, such
as incestuous relationships and the like, were not deemed acceptable
relationships.
- Similarly, there was an outer ring drawn tightly around the Jewish
community that defined the limits of acceptability. Marriage with all
non-Jews stood outside.
It is important
at this point to stress that in the eyes of the Halachah, a marriage
between a Jew and a non-Jew is not a valid marriage. Only a marriage
which has been performed between two Jewish partners according to the
tradition can be considered a valid Jewish marriage. Any marriage between
a Jewish and a non-Jewish partner is clearly not regarded as Jewish.
With this set of clear demarcations, Judaism entered the modern age:
- This is an era where the traditional boundaries that had separated
Jews and non-Jews in the Christian lands of the West started to fall
(the Emancipation).
- Precisely at the same time, traditional religious belief was clearly
growing weaker among many Jews encountering the ideas and realities
of the outside world.
The temptation to convert grew strong, and the nineteenth century
in particular sees hundreds of thousands of Jews converting and marrying
out.
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