Pre exilic Israelites/Jews
Follows is a short version of the Talmudic/rabbinic debate of "who is a Jew". According to the bible, a non Jewish partner in pre-exilic (c.a. 586 BCE) inter-marriage was accepted as a Jew. Change was made during the Talmudic period ( from 300 BCE-) when rabbis interpreted the Torah and redefined the meaning of the word Jew to be applied exclusively to children born to Jewish mother. This interpretation is the law in Israel today, but this reasoning raises the question whether or not the descendants of major biblical Jewish personalities are Jews? Judah married to a Canaanite, Joseph married to an Egyptian, while Moses married to a Midianite and an Ethiopian, and King David a Philistine, while his son King Solomon had women of every description. What these people have in common is that they had non Jewish wives and I wonder why the Talmud did not address this issue.
"For he will cause your son to turn away from following me." (For they will turn your sons away from me..Deut. 7:4))
Follows is a short version of the Talmudic/rabbinic debate of "who is a Jew". According to the bible, a non Jewish partner in pre-exilic (c.a. 586 BCE) inter-marriage was accepted as a Jew. Change was made during the Talmudic period ( from 300 BCE-) when rabbis interpreted the Torah and redefined the meaning of the word Jew to be applied exclusively to children born to Jewish mother. This interpretation is the law in Israel today, but this reasoning raises the question whether or not the descendants of major biblical Jewish personalities are Jews? Judah married to a Canaanite, Joseph married to an Egyptian, while Moses married to a Midianite and an Ethiopian, and King David a Philistine, while his son King Solomon had women of every description. What these people have in common is that they had non Jewish wives and I wonder why the Talmud did not address this issue.
"For he will cause your son to turn away from following me." (For they will turn your sons away from me..Deut. 7:4))
4 For he will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods
In the argumentative fashion of the Talmud, Who is "he?" Who does it mean by "your son?"
"He," explains the Talmud (Yevamos 23a; Kiddushin 68b), means the Gentile son-in-law. Your son means your daughter's son. Since your daughter is Jewish, her daughter is Jewish. But your Gentile son-in-law might turn your grandson away from Hashem. In other words, if you let your daughter marry a Gentile, your son-in-law will cause your grandson to turn away from Hashem.
But what if it's your son who married a Gentile woman? Well, the Torah does not say "she will turn your son away from Hashem." The Torah does not warn us that the Gentile woman will turn the Jewish man away from Hashem. Why not? I'm not sure, but perhaps it's because if your son marries a gentile woman, he has already turned away from Hashem!
Okay, but what about your son's children? Won't their Gentile mother turn them away from Hashem? The answer is that the children of a Gentile mother are not Jewish in the first place, so the Torah is not worried about them being turned away from Hashem.
To make it clear: why doesn't the Torah say "she will turn your son away from Hashem?" Why isn't the Torah worried that your Gentile daughter-in-law will turn your grandson away from G-d? The answer, says the Talmud, is because the son of your Gentile daughter-in-law is not Jewish, and he is not considered your grandson (or son) at all."
The writer then went on to make the 'leap' I was talking about. "But what if it's your son who married a Gentile woman? Well, the Torah does not say "she will turn your son away from Hashem." The Torah does not warn us that the Gentile woman will turn the Jewish man away from Hashem. Why not? I'm not sure, but perhaps it's because if your son marries a gentile woman, he has already turned away from Hashem!"
To say the least, I am totally blown away. There is no mention whatsoever about even if this Talmudic understanding is based from the Mishna or Gemora
"Numerous Israelites heroes and kings married foreign women: for example, Judah married a Canaanite, Joseph an Egyptian, Moses a Midianite and an Ethiopian, David a Philistine, and Solomon women of every description. By her marriage with an Israelite man a foreign women joined the clan, people, and religion of her husband. It never occurred to anyone in pre-exilic times to argue that such marriages were null and void, that foreign women must "convert" to Judaism, or that the off-spring of the marriage were not Israelite if the women did not convert."
"You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from Me to worship other gods, and the Lord's anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out (Deuteronomy 7:3-4).
The Talmud (Kiddushin 68b), which was compiled in the 4th and 5th centuries, explains that the law of matrilineal descent derived from the Torah. The Torah passage (Deut. 7:3-4) reads: "Thy daughter thou shalt not give to his son, nor shalt thou take his daughter to thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods."
Deut 7:1-4
