SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA

with a non-Jewess(Responsa III, 158). The responsa not only reported a variety of forms of such relationships, but also tried to discover solutions. So, when unions between Jewish masters and Gentile slaves were reported(Zikhron Yehudah, 91, p. 44a; Baer, Die Juden im Christlichen Spanien,“Urkunden und Regesten,” I, 164;#6), this was sometimes used to compel a master to liberate such a slave and convert her to Judaism . In those instances, she may 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. Coversions to Judaism were rarely permitted, so such individuals usually were 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 were provided, there were enough to be worth noting.(Albert M. Hyamson , The Sephardim of England, pp. 176ff). We find a similar phenomenon in France before and during the French Revolution (Z. Szajkowski,‘Marriage, Mixed Marriages and Conversions among French Jews During the Revolution of 1789.” Jews and the French Revolutions of 1789, 1830 and 1848, pp. 826ff). We can see from this 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 never completely.

Conversion for the Sake of Marriage

Many non-Jews joined the Jewish community in the Biblical and early post-Biblical periods. However, formal conversion was first discussed by the Talmud , which required sincere motivation as a

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