refuse to answer as the Emperor wished. Napoleon had expressed his goal clearly in a letter sent from Posen(November 29, 1806). There he proposed as a goal that one of every three Jewish marriages should be with a Christian and so Jews would lose their unique character.'” It had taken a vigorous struggle to get the Assembly to accept such marriages as civilly valid. The delegates placed their response into a broader framework by stating that rabbis would be“no more inclined to bless such a union than Catholic priests.
ATTITUDE TO NON-JEW
Since Medieval times Christianity and Islam were viewed as monotheistic religions. Therefore, none of the strictures which the Bible and Talmud place upon idolatry are relevant for Christianity .
The Talmud began to consider pagans of its day differently from the ancient heathen; it treated Christians similarly. The precise attitude toward Gentiles during the five centuries of Talmudic times depended upon specific circumstances. Thus, Simeon ben Yohai could be uncomfortably negative(Kid. 66¢, with full reading in Tosfot to A. Z. 26b; Soferim 15.10). On the other hand, it was possible for Meir and Judah Hanasi to have warm friendly relationships with Gentiles(B. K. 38a). We comfort their dead, visit their sick, help their poor, etc.(Git . 29b; Tur Hoshen Mishpat 266). R. Hiya bar Abba said in the name of R. Johanan that Gentiles outside the land of Israel were not idolaters. They merely continued to follow the customs of their fathers(Hul. 13b).
By the Middle Ages, Christians were generally no longer classified as idolaters(Meir of Rothenburg , Responsa#386). Rabbi Isaac of Dampierre placed Christians in the category of Noachides and not of pagans(Tosfot to San. 73b and Bek. 2b). Menachem Meiri (1249-1306) went further by stating that Christians and Moslems who live by the discipline of their religion should be regarded as Jews in