Napoleon's Sanhedrin and the Halakhah 37

mishnaic concern with mamzerim and netinim. Degrees of family

purity were established for various Israelites (Kid. 71b, 75aff). Such laws of purity were especially enforced for the priesthood(Kid. 66a, 76a, 77a).

The tannaitic interpretation of the prohibition against marrying Ammonites and Moabites was limited to males, and did not extend to females— provided that they converted to J udaism. They could marry a native Israelite in the third generation(M. Yev. 8.3; Yev. 76bf). Rabbi Simeon sought to apply the same principle to Egyptians. Another mishnah simply declared that Ammonites could no longer be clearly identified since the days of Sennacherib (M. Yadayim 4.4; Ber. 28a; Yad, Isurei Biah 12.25). Deuteronomy had prohibited Egyptians and Edomites until the third generation, and in this case there was no tradition to make marriages with females possible after conversion, while excluding males. Although Rabbi Simeon sought to establish such a practice(M. Yev. 8.3;Yev.76b, 77b), his view was not accepted. If the Egyptians and Edomites converted, they were not permitted to marry born Jews until the third generation(Yad, Isurei Biah 12.19). Others rejected these interpretations, so Rav Asi stated that the century-long mingling of pagans and Jews in Babylonia meant that many might be descendants of the ten lost tribes. One could marry them without conversion or any other step, as they were Jews of doubtful status(Yev. 16b, 17a). Similarly, Sennacherib so mixed the nations that it was no longer possible to tell who belonged to the seven prohibited peoples. This meant that they were eligible for conversion and acceptance as Jews (M. Yadayim 4.4). Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Johanan simply stated that Gentiles outside of the Land of Israel were not idolaters, but blindly followed the habits of their fathers, so matters of belief were no longer at issue, nor was there a danger of being led astray by them(A.Z. 65a; Hulin 13b). The principle of population mixture could be applied to Egyptians and Edomites also, and there was some Talmudic discussion about this(M. Yadayim 4.4; Tos. Kid. 5.3; Yad, Isurei Biah 12.25). In general, the Talmudic period expanded the