WALTER JACOB

Marriage in Western Jewry,” Jewish Journal of Sociology 10, pp. 197 ff, J. Rosenbloom, Conversion to Judaism, pp. 1211f).

The issue of mixed marriage was raised in a formal way by the Napoleonic Sanhedrin in 1806. Among the questions posed to this body was the following:“Can a Jewess marry a Christian , or a Jew a Christian woman, or has the law ordered that Jews should only marry among themselves?” As a result of the French Revolution , marriage and divorce had been made a concern of the State. Keenly aware of the implications, the Sanhedrin conducted lengthy discussions, in which reference was made to marriages between Jews and Christians which had taken place in France , Spain , and Germany and which had sometimes been tolerated by the rulers. The final answer stated:“The Great Sanhedrin declared further that marriages between Israelites and Christians , contracted according to the laws of the Code Civil , are civilly binding, and that, although they cannot be invested with religious forms, they shall not result in anathema”(Tama, Transaction of the Parisian Sanhedrin, transl. F. Kirwan, p. 155; G. Plaut , The Rise of Reform Judaism, pp. 71f). The French text here simply declared civil marriages between a Jew and a non-Jew valid, but avoided the issue of religious marriage; the Hebrew text deemed such marriage religiously invalid(E. Feldheim,“Intermarriage Historically Considered,” CCAR Yearbook, vol. 19, Pp. 296). The Napoleonic Sanhedrin here applied the legal principle dina demalchuta dina to civil marriage, without granting religious status. This Talmudic principle was constantly used for civil and criminal law, but never previously in matters of personal status. Some modern Orthodox authorities recognize such marriages, while others do not and therefore require no religious divorce for them(Abraham Freimann, Seder Kiddushin Venisu-in, pp. 362 ff, C. Ellinson, Nisu-in Shelo Kedat Mosheh Veyisra-el, pp. 170ff).