A Family of Covenant
The stories of Genesis are presented as family portraits, but simultaneously they describe the origins of a religious civilization. How did the people of Israel acquire and maintain its distinctive religious mission? Genesis offers not only a window into Israel鈥檚 past, but a blueprint for its future. Implicit is an invitation to contribute to this unfolding narrative, attaching the threads of our lives to the tapestry woven by our ancestors.
Viewing one鈥檚 story within the scope of Israel鈥檚 past and future has significant repercussions. Even the most personal decision鈥攖he choice of whom to marry鈥攂ecomes framed in covenantal terms: Will this marriage maintain the family鈥檚 distinct religious identity, or instead lead it to blend into the surrounding culture? This question plays a tense and tragic role within the first families and drives the central drama of Toledot.
Last week, Abraham demanded that his servant swear 鈥渢hat you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac鈥� (Gen. 24:3鈥�4). In our portion Isaac and Rebecca鈥檚 first son Esau makes his own marital arrangements, taking Hittite wives who 鈥渨ere a source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebecca鈥� (26:35). This brief passage is the catalyst for the painful narrative that unfolds in chapter 27. The marriage theme resumes when Jacob is sent off to find a wife who is not from the surrounding nations (27:46). The contest between Jacob and Esau for their father鈥檚 blessing is an episode within the larger drama of whether or not they will form families dedicated to worshipping the God of Abraham.
The insistence in Genesis that the ancestors not intermarry with the local population becomes even more explicit with the story of Dina and Shekhem. Skipping the most disturbing material鈥攖he rape and its bloody aftermath鈥攖he meta-question is: Will Jacob鈥檚 children intermarry with the local population, or act to preserve their distinct family identity? Hamor proposes this quite clearly: 鈥淚ntermarry with us: give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. You will dwell among us, and the land will be open before you鈥� (34:9鈥�10). It is clear to the people of Shekhem that their larger clan will absorb the newcomers. Intermarriage is both the condition and mechanism for assimilation.
Deuteronomy anticipates the desire to intermarry with the local population after entering Canaan. Inverting the offer of Hamor, God commands, 鈥渄o not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods鈥� (7:3鈥�4). This prediction is fulfilled when King Solomon marries women from many nations, and they 鈥淸turn] his heart鈥� away from the God of Israel (I Kings 11:1鈥�3). The book of Ezra places the policy of endogamy at the center of its plan for the restoration of Israel and the rebuilding of its temple (Chapters 9鈥�10).
From the start to the finish, the Hebrew Bible is concerned with intermarriage, but not from any sense of national superiority. Indeed, the Torah emphasizes that Israel is 鈥渢he least of the peoples鈥� (Deut. 7:7). It is all about the Covenant鈥攚ill this little people maintain its distinctive religious culture, exclusively worshipping the God of their ancestors, or will they merge with the larger population that surrounds them, relinquishing their distinctive faith and identity? The Torah commands Israel to dwell apart鈥攁nd thereby to bring blessing to all families on earth (Gen. 12:3; 28:14).
Despite this clear policy there is also a counterpoint鈥攖he successful integration of outsiders into the family and faith of Israel. The most important of these is Ruth, the Moabite woman who marries an Israelite not once, but twice. When her first husband dies early, Ruth does something remarkable鈥攕he pledges allegiance to her mother-in-law Naomi, to Naomi鈥檚 people, and to their God (Ruth 1:16鈥�17). This moving story is read as a conversion narrative; it leads Ruth back to Naomi鈥檚 homeland, and to a second marriage to Boaz. No longer considered an intermarriage, their union produces the grandfather of King David, founder of Israel鈥檚 greatest dynasty.
The Talmud builds upon the Torah鈥檚 insistence on in-marriage. Rabbi Shimon b. Yochai explains that the concern is that intermarriage will lead children and grandchildren away from Jewish identity (BT Avodah Zarah 36b). This comprehensive ban on intermarriage has been normative throughout Jewish history. It has been the cornerstone for the survival of Judaism as a distinctive religious civilization despite our settlement as a religious minority around the world. Even Jews who are ambivalent about rabbinic authority over their personal life may concede that this policy has allowed Jews and Judaism to survive in diverse settings and circumstances.
While the Rabbis reinforced the Torah鈥檚 insistence on in-marriage, they also developed a mechanism that would allow the best of both worlds鈥攆or Jews to marry wonderful people from other religious backgrounds while maintaining the distinctive religious civilization that had sustained them for over three millennia. That mechanism was conversion. The Torah commands Israel to 鈥渓ove the proselyte鈥� (Deut. 10:19), and this remains one of the great obligations of our day. When non-Jews inquire about Judaism, they should be encouraged in their interest. If they commit to join the covenant of Israel, then they are to be welcomed with great honor.
Many of our most knowledgeable and committed Jews have entered the covenant in this way, strengthening the faith of their families and the entire household of Israel. Yet today a rising chorus calls for a new 鈥減ost-Jewish鈥� identity that will reframe Judaism as a component of spiritual life, rather than as a covenant with distinctive beliefs and practices. This is nothing new鈥攊ndividuals have always blended identities and disappeared from Israel. But three millennia of sacred texts have taught Jews to maintain a distinct religious identity, even while affirming the dignity of all people and respecting other spiritual expressions.
The subject of intermarriage is complicated and often painful. Many Jews intermarry, even if their Judaism is a precious part of their identity. Many non-Jews support the Jewish identity of their spouse and children, even while declining to become Jewish. These realities deserve respectful and kind responses. Yet the Torah鈥檚 insistence that its distinctive faith begins and is transmitted in the family is a norm that has defined and sustained the Jewish people since our origins with Abraham. Though unpopular in an open society, in-marriage remains an essential ingredient for the continuation of Judaism and the Jewish people. Only if we maintain our distinct identity and faith can we fulfill the mandate of our ancient covenant鈥攖o be a source of blessing to the entire world.
The publication and distribution of the 91快播 Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee (锄鈥漧) and Harold Hassenfeld (锄鈥漧).
