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Prominent Detioit Rabbis Join in Discussion-4
Relating to Mixed Marriages... Simons-Zeitlin
Dispute Stirs Interest in Communal Leadership
Basic issues relating to the
problem of mixed marriages
have emerged into serious
discussion here.
A long-debated issue gain-
ed wider consideration upon
publication of the report in
the Feb. 16 Jewish News, of
the policy set by the Rab-
binical Council of America,
the association of Orthodox
rabbis, which aimed at "the
elimination from leadership
roles in Jewish public life
of all those who marry out
of their faith and rabbis who
perform marriages between
Jew and non-Jew."
Leonard N. Simons, one of
Detroit's prominent Reform
leaders, took exception to
this ruling and wrote to The
Jewish News branding such
an attitude as an injustice.
He drew upon examples in
history of eminent Jews who
had intermarried and he
especially emphasized the
role of Moses the Lawgiver
who, as he wrote, "was
married twice to non-Jews
(or possibly they were one
and the same person)—Zip-
porah, the daughter of a
Medionite priest and, as
mentioned in Numbers, 'to a
Cushite woman.' " On "a
little lower level" Simons
referred to other Jews who
intermarried and whose
elimination from leadership
would harm Jewry.
Prof. Samuel Sandmel's
novel, "Alone Atop the
Mountain" (Doubleday)
deals extensively with the
Moses - Zipporah "mixed
marriage," with emphasis
on Zipporah's acceptance
of her new Hebraic role.
See review of Dr. Sand-
mel's novel on page 12.
The Jewish News then ask-
ed Prof. Solomon Zeitlin's
view on the subject of Moses'
marriage to a non-Jew. Dr.
Zeitlin wrote:
"Leonard N. Simons propa-
gated the idea of intermar-
riage by referring to Moses
who 'married a Cushite
woman.' He states, "The
Jews would probably not be
in existence today if his
people would have eliminated
Moses from leadership when
he married a non-Jew." It
seems that Mr. Simons is
confused to say the least.
Moses married a Cushite
woman (if he ever married)
because there was not yet a
Jewish people. God was not
yet revealed to Moses . . .
Mr. Simons overlooked the
fact that Moses himself said
in the Torah, "You shall not
intermarry with them; do
not give your daughters to
their sons, nor take their
daughters for your sons; for
they will turn your children
away from Me, to worship
foreign gods" (Deut. 7, 3).
Moses was against intermar-
riage because he believed
that through intermarriage
the children would leave
their people. And this reason
is still valid today. Judaism
is not a racial religion, it is
a universal religion. Anyone
is welcome to accept Juda-
ism. The Jews are united
with their brethern through-
10 Friday, May 11, 1973
—
out the world by religion, by
culture and also by historical
bonds. Judaism is the genius
of one people, a small minor.
ity in the world. Thus by
intermarriage, as Moses had
foreseen, the offspring would
leave the Jewish people.
"A rabbi who performs the
ceremony of marriage be-
tween a Jew and a non-Jew,
not only transgresses the in-
junction of Moses and the in-
junction of the sages through.
out the Jewish history, but
he also demonstrates dis-
loyalty towards the Jewish
people. We may even say
that by this act he betrays
the spirit of the Jewish
people."
Simons promptly rejected
the charge that he was
propagating mixed marri-
ages and stated that he was
not arguing the merits of the
issue but was "stating facts
and dealing with facts." He
listed names of many Jews
who had intermarried, yet
gained great respect and
leadership in many ranks.
He mentioned Bernard Ba-
ruch, Morris Abram, Felix
Frankfurter, J. Robert Op-
penheimer, Jonas Salk,
Meyer Levin, Leon Uris,
Ernst Bloch, Irving Berlin
and many others.
Simons responded with a
lengthy expression of his
views with references to
biblical texts and resort to
many surces regarding' the
terms Jew, Israelite and He-
brew. He stated in reply to
Dr. Zeitlin:
"I said, 'The Jews would
probably not be in existence
today if his people would
have eliminated Moses from
leadership when he married
a non-Jew.' Zeitlin says I'M
`confused' by referring to
Moses who 'married a Cush-
ite woman' . . 'if he ever
married') and 'because there
was not yet a Jewish people.'
"How can Zeitlin accept
every word in the Torah as
being the revealed word of
God, except what he doesn't
want to accept? Every Bible
that I have states in Exodus
that Jethro, priest of Midian,
`gave Moses his daughter,
Zipporah, 'as wife.' Then,
further on in Numbers —
'Miriam and Aaron spoke
against Moses because of the
Cushite woman he had
married.' Some Bibles use
the word 'Ethiopian' instead
of Cushite. If Moses wasn't
married, as Zeitlin questions,
then we Jews seems to be
descendants from a long line
of 'bastards.'
"And, why does he say
there was not yet a Jewish
people? Isn't he just trying
to confuse the issue through
the use of semantics? When
we use the word 'Jew' in
connection with Moses, we
are bringing Jewish history
up to date. Abraham was the
first `Jew'—even though the
Bible says he was a 'He-
brew.' And, Isaac and Jacob
and everybody else in the
Bible whom we refer to as
our ancestors, were 'Jews'
but there were called 'Israel-
ites.' All of us recognize
sufficient continuity to accept
Judaism as the modern
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
counterpart of the biblical them to take a position of
religion of Israel.
leadership in our community
"Then Prof. Zeitlin says — we should welcome them
that 'Mr. Simons overlooked with open arms."
*
the fact that Moses himself
Three
rabbis,
representing
said in the Torah, "You shall
not intermarry with them; all elements in religious
do not give your daughters Jewry — Moses Lehrman
to their sons, nor take their (Conservative), Hayim Donin
daughters for your sons; for (Orthodox) and Milton Ros-
they will turn your children enbaum (Reform) — were in-
away from Me, to worship vited by The Jewish News
to state their views on the
foreign gods.' "
"What Prof. Zeitlin over- subject thus advanced.
Their
respective
state-
looked in that statement was
the entire statement in Deut. ments follow:
7:3. In this particular pass-
Rabbi Lehrman
age — Moses was NOT say-
ing that God was against all
intermarriage. Moses said
that God did not want the
Israelites to intermarry with
the Hittite, Giragashite, Am-
orite, Canaanite, Perizzite,
Hivite and Jebusite people,
`seven nations much larger
than you,' because they wor-
shiped idols. The Bible tells
us the greatest of all sins RABBI MOSES LEHRMAN
that can be committed is
Cong Bnai Moshe
idolatry.
It is inconceivable to me
"The Lord our God is also that a 3,000 year old tradi-
the God of the Gentile na- tion should at this stage be
tions of the world. The Jew- challenged because of a
ish Bible teaches us there is biblical episode. For over 30
One God, Lord of the Uni- centuries the Jewish people
verse. Gentiles who lead
developed a way of life
lives of absolute faithfulness primarily based upon the
to God and who believe in
Bible, and evolved in accord-
ethical monotheism; who are ance with the times.
`clean of hand and pure of
The Bible specifically pro-
heart;' but whose religion
has a different name than hibits intermarriage when it
ours; 'will receive the bless- states: (Deut. VI:3) "neither
ing of the Lord.' Certainly shalt thou make marriages
people who meet those stan- with them (the seven Can-
dards are worthy of every aanite tribes) thy daughter
type of consideration by the thou shalt not give unto his
Jews, including matrimony. son, nor . his daughter shalt
If Moses, the founder of our thou take unto thy son."
religion, married o n e or
According to Rabbi Simeon
two (some biblical scholars (Ab, Zarah 36B) all gentiles
claim that Zipporah and the are included in the inter-
Cushite woman are one and marriage prohibition. From
the same person; some say Ezra the scribe on, inter-
they are two different per- marriage was prohibited,
sons) women who were not without exception, against all
of his faith then his words gentiles and at all times.
must be consistent.
This law was codified by
"It can be presumed that Maimonides and became part
Moses would not have com- of Jewish religious law.
pletely prohibited intermar-
Furthermore, if we seek
riage with people who were earlier biblical prohibition of
not of our faith as can be mixed marriage we can find
seen in Deut. 23:8, 'Thou it in the patriarchal law for-
shalt not abhor an Edomite, bidding the descandants of
for he is they brother; thou Abraham to marry outside
shalt not abhor an Egyptian, their own families. The case
because thou wast a stranger of Moses is exceptional and
in his land. The children of bizarre.
the third generation that are
To ignore the Talmud and
born unto them may enter the commentaries on the
into the assembly of the Talmud is to become ob-
Lord.'
livious of the Jewish tradi-
"Respecting Zeitlin's con- tion. For centuries following
tention — how would he ex- the Mosaic era, prophets and
plain the narrative of the sages who knew the Bible
Book of Ruth whereby the and the story of Moses,
author does not disapprove maintained that in accord-
of the two sons of Naomi ance with the laws of Moses,
marrying Moabite girls. The intermarriage is a cardinal
Book tells us that Ruth the sin against the people of Is-
Moabite was an ancestress rael.
of King David,
For almost 2,000 years the
"Zeitlin, the modern, sci- Talmud has been the guide-
entific scholar, which we all line for Jewish observance.
acknowledge he is, should How can we sidetrack 2,000
know that his argument from years of tradition in seeking
the Bible is preposterous.
justification for a breach of
"I grant there are biblical that tradition?
passages that prohibit or dis-
There was once a very
courage intermarriage, but prominent sect known as
a Jew living in this day and Karaites who accepted bibli-
age has to use his good cal law as their sole guide,
common sense. If intermar- forgetting talmudic interpre-
riage has already taken tation. This sect vanished,
place and the people are de because Judaism is the sum
cent citizens with special total of thousands of years of
abilities that would permit biblical interpretation. To
neglect the Jewish tradition
is to adhere to the literalness
of the biblical law, "an eye
for an eye," ignoring the
talmudic insight into the law.
There's another aspect to
be considered. Intermarriage
is a slow form of genocide.
Whether or not this practice
can be condoned depends
upon whether or not we be-
lieve that the Jewish people
ought to be preserved. If it
matters not whether or not
the Jewish people must sur-
vive, then intermarriage can
easily be condoned. If, how-
ever, we feel that Judaism
and the Jew must not vanish,
for the well being of our
civilization, then we must
take a stronger stand on this
very painful issue.
At the same time, while
Judaism looks askance at
mixed marriages and consid-
ers it a disservice to our
future, I cannot subscribe to
the thinking of those who
would bar individuals, in-
volved in the practice of
mixed marriage, from hold-
ing positions of leadership
in the Jewish community.
We are not committed to
penalizing people who prac-
tice mixed marriage. We are
concerned with discouraging
it.
Furthermore, to shut the
door to transgressors is to
do violence to a basic prin-
ciple in Judaism: "A Jew
though he transgressed is yet
a Jew."
Rabbi Donin
RABBI HAYIM DONIN
Cong Bnai David
The basic question dealt
with in the Simons-Zeitlin
exchange is whether or not
a person who is married to
a non-Jew (who remains un-
converted to Judaism) should
be permitted a role of leader-
ship in the Jewish commu-
nity?
The sides that have been
taken in response to this
question constitutes a policy
decision that each commu-
nity must decide on the basis
of its own circumstances and
that necessarily revolves
around the following consid-
eration: Is the problem of
mixed marriage today a
serious enough threat to our
Jewish community, to the
preservation of Jewish val-
ues and Jewish community
life, to warrant sanctions
against intermarried persons
who aspire to community
leadership?
The RCA's position is that
it does! After all, leadership
should involve not only the
willingness to offer of one's
means and energies, but also
the ability to set an example
to a community, a model for
others to follow. Does a Jew
who is involved in a mixed
marriage provide such a
model? Obviously not! And
the negative influence such
leadership has is obviously
judged to outweigh the ad-
vantages to be gained. It is
not a matter of removing
Jewish rights from a such a
Jew. He may still -be called
to the Torah for an Aliya.
But public leadership neces-
sarily involves more in-
gent standards than ti: . ri-
vate life.
Furthermore, Rabbis who
perform mixed marriages
are undoubtedly contributing
to the dissolution of the Jew-
ish people, notwithstanding
all their rationalization to the
contrary. Rabbis are sup-
posed to serve God, not the
interests of individuals. Our
primary obligation is to
Judaism and the collective
body of Israel, and not to
those who seek a rabbinic
"hekhsher" for a relation-
ship that Judaism just can-
not recognize. That what
mixed-marriage performers
are doing should be treated
as treason is, to me, clear
beyond the shadow of a
doubt. This view is shared
not only by the Orthodox and
Conservative rabbinate, but
also by a significant element
of the Reform rabbinate as
well.
I appreciate Mr. Simons'
tolerant willingness for the
Orthodox to set policy for
"Orthodox Jewish communal
life," but what he apparent-
ly doesn't understand is that
the Orthodox view all Jews
as part of' one klal Yisroel-
and that their concern is for
the survival of Jewry, not
just Orthodox Jewry. It is
precisely the Reform view of
Judaism which has led to
sectarian non-halakhic prac-
tices by their rabbinate (in
the area of marriage, divorce
and conversions) that may
well create the schism
among Jews we're all trying
to avoid.
I do want to pinpoint the
errors of "interpretation" in-
volved in the points Simons
raises. They are weak, un-
convincing and faulty.
1. Simon s' reasoning
from Moses or other earlier
biblical figures is non-per-
suasive. By the same token,
Judaism should condone the
marriage of two sisters
(which the Torah later roes
to be incestuous) be
E.'
that is what Jacob did, ur
the eating of meat and milk-
together because that is what
Abraham served his guests.
2. Besides, according to
tradition, the wife or wives
of Moses, (however you care
to have it) accepted the faith
of Moses. When Ruth mar-
ried Boaz, she was a true
and sincere convert to Juda-
ism, the classic example in
fact of the ger tzedek, to
whom Judaism always re-
lated with respect and love.
It is the traditional prayer-
book that contains a prayer
(said thrice daily in the
Shmoneh Esreh) for the
righteous proselyte, who is
grouped together with the
(Continued on Page 11)