MARRIAGE WITH SECTARIANS
orphaned age! Who will be more mahmir than our early geonim, and think of the Karaites of Egypt that there is any suspicion in them of mamzerut, for then, God forbid, we will come to the position that we must declare pasul all the Rabbanite inhabitants
In the writings attributed to Rabbi Aaron Mendel Hacohen, we find a clear example of the ambivalence of an Ashkenazi rabbi living and making halakhic decisions in Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century. Zohar quotes his early attitude toward the other sect in town:
I, myself, when I first arrived here and heard the name of a Karaite , I would spit and say about him,“Unclean, unclean— he is a mamzer,” and 1 was careful to refrain even from touching the walls of streets upon which they live. And not only I alone behaved in this way, but also all those who are known to fear God were extremely careful not to come in contact with anything associated with the Karaites. ”*'
After gaining some local experience and wisdom, he, like Hazan, learned to distinguish between types of Karaites , disallowing those openly hostile to Rabbanite Judaism, but averring that, regarding those Karaites who live in peace and mutual respect with their Rabbanite neighbors,“who do not act rebelliously or treacherously, we shall rely with all our strength on our rishonim,” and follow their lead regarding accepting those Karaites into the Rabbanite community.
We can now answer the question of under what circumstances Rabbanite halakhic decisors permit intersectarian marriage. The rabbis that allow intersectarian marriage of Rabbanite and Karaite Jew , such as Rabbi Yehudah Masalton, specifically do so only when all three of the following conditions are met:
162