variety of forms of such relationships, but also created solutions for specific cases such as unions between Jewish masters and Gentile slaves(Zichron Yehuda, 91, p. 44a). The master could be compelled to liberate such a slave and convert her to Judaism . In those instances, she may then have become his Jewish concubine(Adret, Responsa 1, 12.19).
In the 18th century, when social barriers between Jews and non-Jews decreased in England, intermarriage increased. Conversions to Judaism were rarely permitted, so such individuals usually married in the church. Intermarriage did not necessarily mean that the party wished to leave the Jewish community, but they had little choice, as they were inevitably expelled from the synagogue. Sometimes the children of such unions later converted to Judaism , and were brought back into the community. Although no numbers are provided, it seems to have been a noteworthy group. We find a similar phenomenon in France before and during the great French Revolution . We can see from latter essay that a goodly number of individuals who entered mixed marriages subsequently converted to Catholicism . All of these incidents have been cited to demonstrate the reality of the problem throughout the medieval period. The codes and legal literature attempted to halt the process, and generally succeeded, but the same incidence continued throughout the period.
Modern Times
Mixed marriages occurred with increasing frequency beginning in the latter part of the 18th century. This was true in all lands of Western Europe and in the United States . Szajkowski has shown that such marriages occurred among the obscure and the prominent during the French Revolution . Mixed marriages increased rapidly during the succeeding century as a number of careful studies have indicated.”