SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA
conjugiis misceantur: quod si, fecerint, usque ad sequestrationem, quisquis ille est, communione pellatur. Item Christianis convivia interdicimus Judaeorum; in quibus si, forte fuisse probantur, annuali excommunicationi pro hujusmodi contumacia subjacebunt.(Ephraim Feldman,“Intermarriage Historically Considered,” CCAR Yearbook, vol. 19, p. 300).
Similar prohibitions can be found expressed by Church Councils throughout the Middle Ages(Toledo , 589; Rome, 793; etc.). Their constant renewal may point to a continuing series of mixed marriages, or it may indicate the Church’s desire to reemphasize its hostility toward Jews and Judaism.
The highest rate of mixed marriage in the Middle Ages occurred in Spain , and we find reports of Gentile wives and concubines. Such relations were already reported in Visigoth Spain in the fifth. sixth, and seventh centuries. The Arian Christian Church did its best to halt them and frequently adopted statements of Church Councils, most to no avail(Georg Caro, Sozial und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Juden, vol. 1. 85fF II, 225ff). Various forms of illicit relationships between Jews and Christians were reported(Adret, Responsa 1, 1187, 1V, 257, Asher, Responsa VIII, 10: Baer , Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien,“Urkunden und Regesten” I, 171, 442). We should remember that stiff penalties for such illicit intercourse were also imposed by Christians; it could mean death by fire(Baer , Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien,“Urkunden und Regesten” II, 125, no. 72; Asher, Responsa VIII. 10; Baer , /bid., I, 456, 1037-1038, II, 63, p. 48). As such transgressions could endanger the entire Jewish community, they were dealt with severely by Jewish authorities(Zikhron Yehudah,#80, 91). A considerable number of cases of adultery and intercourse between Gentiles and Jewish women was reported in the responsa literature(4dret, 1, 1187, 1250, IV, 257; Asher, Responsa VIII, 10, XVIII, 113). We also find occasions of intercourse between master and slave, presumably non
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