The Denver Jewish news., 1919-04-09
lntermarriage
An Ancient Problem.
By DIR. DE SoLA POOL.

From one point of view, the gravcst
problem which Jewry is facing today
is that of intermarriagc between Jews
and Christians.
This problem is not new one in
Jewish history, but it is more gem
eral and. therefore, more urgent to-
day than it has ever been before. We,
Jews, have always been small min
ority in the world, and because OF
this, we have had to struggle con-
sciously and sternly for our survival.
From the very beginning of our his
tory, 1t was realized that marrying
outside of the Jewish fold carried
with it menace to our Jewish sur
vival- Already at the dawn of Jewish
history, Abraham, the founder of Il
strange wife, and Isaac, the son of u
Hebrew wife. To insure that the tra-
dition which he was founding should
he transmitted in its purity to the
next generation. Abraham sent away
Ishmael and chose Isaac as his true
son, physically and spiritually. Isaac
in his turn was faced with the same
necessity of choice between his two
sons Esau and Jacob. After Esau
had married Hittite wife and there
by had put himself outside of the
direct line of Jewish tradition, Jacob
became the natural and inevitable heir
of Jewish life and thought.
Later. when the Hebrew descendants
of these patriarchs had become Il rcO-
pie, their integrity as people was
threatened by the mixed multitude of
Egyptions who seized the opportunity
of escaping from Egyphon bondage
with them This, mixed multitude
was the cause of considerable trouble
to the newly born Jewish people on
its weary pilgrimage to the promised
land. Palestine. Turnout the wlicle OF
Biblical history, there Is repeated tes-
timOny to the troubles which came to
the Jewish people and its individual
leaders thru disregard Of t.. prohil'i-
ton of intcrmarriage This prohibit
tion is expressed most explicitly in tile
following words: when the Lord.
thy God shall bring thee into the
land WHITTIER thou g0est to possess II,
and shall cast ont many nations be-
lore thee. .. thou shalt inake no
covenant with them neither shalt
thou make marriages win them; thy
duughtrc thou shalt not give unto his
son nor his daughter shalt thou take
unto thy son. For he will turn away
thy son from following Ne that they
may serve other gods; so will the
anger of the Lord he kindled against
thee and He will destroy thee quick
w." deuteronomy vii. LII.
A Problem in Every Age.
How great menace the disregard
of this prohibition became. Is made
ms clear in the latest parts of the
Bible as it is in the earliest l'ibli-
cal history. Ezra saw that the "peo-
ple of Israel have no! separated
themselves from the peoples of the
land for they have taken of
their daughters for Themselves and
for their sons " (EZra tx, l, ~
This disregard of the fundamental
law of Jewish self-preservation had
become so serious, that Ezra ana
Nehemiah. the leaders of the people.
induced them to take the drastic
measure of divorce from their nom
Jewish wives. SO far WAS the mix
ture of blood progressing. that these
farseeing leaders saw that no steps
less th6ro than this could succeed i'll
preserving the integrity of the Jew
iSh people. Later, the Rabbis, from
bitter experience, set their faces stern
ly against mixed marriages, and all
the years of subsequent Jewish his
tory have borne witness to the prac-
teal wisdom of their policy.
In Modern Times.
Since the nineteenth century when
emancipation brought about free
mixing of Jews and non-Jews. the op-
portunity for intermarriagc mas
grown. One of the first results OF
cmancipa tion of the Jews was an en-
ormols increase in the number OF IN
termarriages and since those flrst
days of tolerance, all over the world
there has been striking and most
ominous increase in intermarriage De-
tween Jew and Gentle.
Heart Versus Head
T,,l Ian