Napoleon's Sanhedrin and the Halakhah 31

our purposes, he understood that the modern state derived its authority which included all the inhabitants of a country, Jews as well. Furthermore, only the state had the right to coerce, which in Judaism had been accomplished through the herem; it was now eliminated and with it the chief power of the rabbinic court. The major effect of this charter would take a while to be felt; it was seen as progress by the Jewish communities as a number of restrictions were lifted.

A more difficult situation arose through Joseph II of Austria ’s Ehepatent(1783) which provided state regulation for marriages.”’ The rabbinic authorities needed to deal with this immediately. The best way to face this new demand was through a fakanah which obligated the communities involved to observe the secular law.

The general principle was to indicate the validity of dina demalkhuta dina in all matters where it did not specifically contradict Jewish obligations. In the area of marriage and divorce, dina demalkhuta dina was carefully cited and extended into the field of family law. Other citations were also used to create the necessary compliance. As a get was not considered valid if any bond between husband and wife remained and as the lack of a civil divorce created such a bond, a ger was not valid until a civil divorce had been given.” Thus civil marriage and civil divorce was added to the Jewish requirements in the western lands. Various rabbinic authorities added their voice to such decisions.”

MIXED MARRIAGE The Bible and Mixed Marriage If we review the marriages of the Patriarchs, we can see that they went to considerable trouble to obtain wives within the family

circle, presumably with individuals who would be friendly to the religious ideals which the Patriarchs held. It is clear that endogamous