Parsha Mitzvot-Vaetchanan-Mitzvah 427-Concept 162-Intermarriage

Transcribed & unedited: We are up to mitzvah number one-sixty two. You are not allowed to marry a non-Jewish woman. Now. What this Halachah means is that a Jew may not live with a non-Jewish woman in a married way that they are living together. This is not a biblical prohibition against intercourse with a non-Jewish woman.

Audience: “Is there a prohibition against living with a non-Jews?” So we discussed that. But it is probably just Rabbinic.

However, if you actually see a Jewish man having intercourse with a non-Jewish woman you are supposed to kill him right then. Not take him to Beit Din, you have to kill him, which is what Pinchas did to Zimry ben Salu and Coziy bat Tzur. Zimry ben Salu was the Prince of the Tribe of Shimon. He took Cosby bat Tzur who was the daughter of one of the Princes of Midian, and in public slept with her as a slap in the face of Moshe Rabbenu who was married to Tzipporah, a midianite woman. He said if you can be married to a midianite woman, I can have relations with a midianite woman. So publicly he had relations with her, and Moshe was just standing there not doing anything. Because he was looking at it as a Rabbi.

So a Rabbi thinks of it in terms of Halachah. Halachah there is no punishment for it. But we learn Ka’naim Pogi’im Bo. Those who are jealous, zealous for G-d, do something about it. So Pinchas went, took his spear, and put it right through the center of both of their bodies, and lifted them up to make sure that everyone knew why he killed them. Audience: “Only Pinchas could do it or anyone could do it?” Anyone. Anyone is supposed to do it. Had he asked Moshe Rabbeinu should I kill them, Moshe would have said no. Because there is no death penalty. It is one of the things you are supposed to do.

Now this is the story, remember I told you there is a story in the Gemarah of one Rabbi who saw a woman wearing an inappropriate dress and he went over to her and ripped it off and said, “If you want to walk around naked, walk around naked.” Anyway it turned out she was not Jewish and she was the daughter of a local Roman authority. So he did not fare well and they decided that that should not be the behavior of Rabbis anyway simply because you could get into trouble with Roman authorities. Okay. Now Ka’naim Pogi’im Bo means only if they are actually having intercourse, if they have already separated then you are not allowed to kill them.

Now what happens if a Jewish man sleeps with a non-Jewish woman? So there is no biblical punishment, however there is something called Makos Mardus, you give him lashes for rebelling against the Rabbis, which is much more serious than Malkos, the Biblical lashes, in that you beat the person up within an inch of his life. You literally just beat him anyway you can.

Audience: “And if he does what?” Interrupts during class. Pardon? Audience: “They were doing it the whole time.” What interrupting during class? Yes and they were punished for it, they were sent into exile. Okay, now the Rambam says, “This sin, even though there is no death penalty for it, you do not make jest of it.” Because there is none that is more destructive then this. Because you loose your child, even if you have a child, you loose it. It is a non-Jew. Audience: “Rabbi is there a prohibition against doing it?” Yes, biblical. The Torah is written in a male perspective, very much so. I do not know if you have noticed. Just like if you have a relationship with a non-Jew, a simple relationship in that you live with her. Biblical. You, just like you lose your job. You have any responsibility for that woman, in other words if she lost to you, in other words–” It would be a balloon payment, you would not be able to support her over the long term. In other words the point would be that the community would urge you to cut off relations.

Audience: “But you would have some responsibility towards her. You lose the child completely but-” Biblically there are none, the Rabbis would have imposed something on the matter.