Nadene Goldfoot
The phenomenon of a marriage between a Jew and a no-Jew was rare before the Emancipation Period. Emancipation means the removal in the western world in the 18th to 20th centuries of the DISABILITIES imposed on Jews.
The Jewish Bride
In the Roman Empire there was normally the non -specific anti-Jewish religious discrimination or plain old anti-Semitism. Jews had benefited from the EDICT OF CARACALLA in the year 212 which extended universally the rights and duties of citizenship. From the 4th century the Christian Empire enacted an elaborate system of discrimination against the Jews which was adopted and intensified in medieval Europe as well as in the Islamic world.
THE GHETTO SYSTEM that started in Italy in Venice was the climax of Jewish shunning aimed at the complete Expulsion of the Jews from gentile society. However, the new settlements created by the cultured and Europeanized Marrano (Jews who had been baptised but were in fact holding on to their religion) in the 17th century enjoyed a considerable amount of social emancipation.
This also goes for COURT JEWS who played a prominent role in Germany at that time. Court Jews includes some of my ancestors such as Rabbi Wertheimer( 1658-1724) and his sibling who were nephews to Rabbi Samuel Oppenheimer, financiers born in Worms, Germany. They lent money to the emperor.
Their parents,both Jewish, were from Lazdijai, Lithuania/Poland
and Telsiai, Lithuania but they met each other in Idaho's mountains in Council. Both spoke Yiddish and couldn't read or write English.
Finding ancestors who were able to lend money to kings would have been very disheartening to my father, who was a little ragmuffin in Oregon born in 1908, the younger one standing, which shows how hard it was for their parents to immigrate to freedom but faced finding work when language was different as well as skills. Their father would soon die in a horse and wagon accident and they would be out on the streets selling newspapers. Being in America, these two little boys grew up to be very successful.
In the New World that recently was discovered, meaning America whose rules were less rigid, New York's atmosphere was more favorable for Jews. In the British colonies in North America, Jews tended to intermingle with their neighbors on equal terms: they were admitted to the franchise after some difficulty in the 18th century and took part freely in the events leading up to the American Revolution. The same went for Jews later in the whole USA.
The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840.
Before the Industrial Revolution in the United States, Canada and Europe, you might have ended up married to a fourth cousin. People didn’t travel far to find a spouse, and the closer you were to home, the more likely it was you’d marry within your family. Then, in the late 19th century, something changed, and people stopped marrying their cousins. This is something far more common with Jews, though, as they stayed together longer. Jews are an endogamous group
Virginia established full religious freedom in 1785, and the constitution of the USA in 1787 was formally completed. it was not contemplating Jews in its thoughts, however, or Blacks, for that matter but it ironically stipulated that no religious test should be required as a qualification for any public office.
Full emancipation in individual states was delayed. Maryland's came in 1825; North Carolina's in 1868; New Hampshire's in 1876-77, etc.
In France, Jewish emancipation was a natural part of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789s. It was extended in 1790 to the long-established Jews in Avignon and the Sephardim Jews of Bordeaux, etc. It was only with great difficulty that the Germanized Jews of Alace were brought within its scope in 1791.
Napoleon's decret infame of 1808 restricted Jewish municipal rights, but not their political rights, especially in Alace. It was not renewed on its expiration date in 1818. By 1831, the process of emancipation in France was completed by the official recognition of Judaism as a subsidized state religion, treated like the Christian Churches were treated. The armies of the French Revolution had introduced the conception of Jewish emancipation into the countries they conquered.
At this time the Jews of Holland were already to a great extent, socially assimilated, and were formally emancipated in 1796, and so continued afterwards as the Jews of Belgium did when its independence was established in 1830. Emancipation was introduced in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era into those parts of Italy and Germany occupied or influenced by the French such as Westphalia in 1807; Frankfort in 1811; and while Prussia was influenced by this, conceded a qualified emancipation in 1812.
However, when Napoleon fell, all these concessions were rescinded or diluted in various degrees. Jews were then being expelled from some towns in Germany and the ghetto system was restored in Rome and many other parts of Italy. In the 19th century, there was a back and forth process going on. Jewish emancipation was introduced by revolutionary movements and canceled during periods of reaction.
It was again gradually established in Germany in Hesse-Cassel in 1833; Brunswick in 1834; Prussia slightly in 1850, Baden in 1862, Saxony in 1868, etc and was embodied in the constitutions of the North German Federation of 1869 and of the German Empire in 1871. It was introduced into Austro- Hungary in 1867, In Italy the kingdom of Piedmont had established it in 1848 and gradually embraced the whole of Italy, the principle was accordingly extended, finished on the occupation of Rome in 1870. Denmark began the process in 1814 granting municipal emancipation in 1837 and political in 1848.
Other Scandinavian countries followed later. In England, Jews had been kicked out, expulsed from 1290 to 1655. European Jews moved to England hoping to better their lives in the 1700 and 1800s. Champions of Jewish emancipation in the world did not all envisage political emancipation for them, just social, and this included John Toland (1670-1722) born in Ireland, Toland's belief in the need for perfect equality among free-born citizens was extended to the Jewish community, tolerated, but still outsiders in early 18th century England. In his 1714 Reasons for Naturalising the Jews he was the first to advocate full citizenship and equal rights for Jewish people., T.B. Macaulay in England, Abbe Gregore in France, CW von Dorm in Germany, and M. d' Azeglio in Italy. Jews may have been emancipated, but even a social emancipation did not allow Jews in social centers that were exclusive. This is even recognized in Portland, Oregon where Jews were kept out of sororities and fraternities, places like the Athletic clubs, etc. Jewish teenagers had to have their own groups, clubs, dances, etc. and this went on until after the 1950s.
Second Revolution Technology has changed the world in many ways, but perhaps no period introduced more changes than the Second Industrial Revolution. From the late 19th to early 20th centuries, cities grew, factories sprawled and people’s lives became regulated by the clock rather than the sun. It helped to change attitudes about Jews and marriage.
We see it to this day in the treatment of the Blacks as well only even more so as they they are easier to identify. They were emancipated after the Civil War of 1865 but still not yet, really, completely, including all, for their skin color makes them stand out.
By the 19th century, the establishment of civil marriages came to most countries and in most cases, meant one partner took the religion of the other. This practice increased in Western Europe and America. In some communities such as in Italy, the proportion of mixed marriages including those where conversion took place, rose to early 2/3rds of all marriages by Jews.
By 1932, 60 mixed marriages took place in Germany for every 100 Jewish marriages. In the US, the rate of intermarriage i very high in some smaller communities though its incidence is checked in the larger towns by the more intense jewish social life. The phenomenon is on the increase. Intermarriage continues to be one of the main threats to continued Jewish existence outside Israel and seriously endangered some European Jewish communities that are already facing decimation by their population by moving to Israel. Jewish law today is that the religion is passed onto the children through their mother, but reform Judaism accepts the one parent policy that if one parent is Jewish, the child is considered Jewish. This is a problem in that if the mother isn't, who will teach the child about their religion and keep up with our ways of remembering it with our holidays, special foods, etc. Judaism is family oriented, a religion, which includes all the aspects, social, language, environmental, cultural, etc. As the religion is watered down, so is the culture. In the majority of cases of a mixed marriage where only one remains Jewish and the other does not convert, the children are lost to Judaism. If that one non-converter is the mother, this is especially true. The genes may be there, but without the environment, the education, the children come out of it more anti-religious than anything.
A survey suggests that a rising percentage of the children of intermarriages are Jewish in adulthood. Among Americans age 65 and older who say they had one Jewish parent, 25% are Jewish today. By contrast, among adults under 30 with one Jewish parent, 59% are Jewish today. In this sense, intermarriage may be transmitting Jewish identity to a growing number of Americans. It also shows
that the offspring of intermarriages – Jewish adults who have only one Jewish parent – are much more likely than the offspring of two Jewish parents to describe themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular. In that sense, intermarriage may be seen as weakening the religious identity of Jews in America.
Jews have been an endogamous people for a long time. Intermarriage is changing this, bringing in new blood, so to speak. Physically, this is slowing down the process of possible genetic diseases. Iceland is also an endogamous society who now check with their genes before marriage. The Jewish Mosaic law does provide to bar very close relationships, however. 1st cousin marriages are not allowed in the USA for anyone, usually. However, As of February 2014, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins. Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.
In retrospect, emancipation was vitally important. It had opened up the doors that were closed to Jews and they were treated as others, though it took a very long time to really "take." The Industrial Revolution moved people about looking for jobs. The bad element of this is that it also opened up the possibility of intermarriage, causing the loss of many of our Jewish population. Knowing these facts should help genealogists to be aware and realize how some of their family members could have been either Jewish or Gentiles.
This is why the establishment of Israel is so very important where they can keep their marriage laws as the religion calls for in order to continue while giving everyone emancipation that they hadn't experienced in other places as well. It's a Jewish state, not just a free state like all other free states who just happen to be mostly all Christian or all Muslims or all other religions of the far east. Jews are only 0.02% of the world population and they don't want that fraction to become any the less for they feel they have a lot to offer the world. They are a worthy people and care to continue their lives.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/11/12/what-happens-when-jews-intermarry/
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| Ancient Jewish Bridal Crown |
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| A Jewish Bride Today |
The phenomenon of a marriage between a Jew and a no-Jew was rare before the Emancipation Period. Emancipation means the removal in the western world in the 18th to 20th centuries of the DISABILITIES imposed on Jews.
 |
| Jewish wedding means marriage under a canopy called a chuppah and 10 people are required to be present with one being the rabbi to officiate the marriage. |
In the Roman Empire there was normally the non -specific anti-Jewish religious discrimination or plain old anti-Semitism. Jews had benefited from the EDICT OF CARACALLA in the year 212 which extended universally the rights and duties of citizenship. From the 4th century the Christian Empire enacted an elaborate system of discrimination against the Jews which was adopted and intensified in medieval Europe as well as in the Islamic world.
THE GHETTO SYSTEM that started in Italy in Venice was the climax of Jewish shunning aimed at the complete Expulsion of the Jews from gentile society. However, the new settlements created by the cultured and Europeanized Marrano (Jews who had been baptised but were in fact holding on to their religion) in the 17th century enjoyed a considerable amount of social emancipation.
This also goes for COURT JEWS who played a prominent role in Germany at that time. Court Jews includes some of my ancestors such as Rabbi Wertheimer( 1658-1724) and his sibling who were nephews to Rabbi Samuel Oppenheimer, financiers born in Worms, Germany. They lent money to the emperor.
and Telsiai, Lithuania but they met each other in Idaho's mountains in Council. Both spoke Yiddish and couldn't read or write English.
Finding ancestors who were able to lend money to kings would have been very disheartening to my father, who was a little ragmuffin in Oregon born in 1908, the younger one standing, which shows how hard it was for their parents to immigrate to freedom but faced finding work when language was different as well as skills. Their father would soon die in a horse and wagon accident and they would be out on the streets selling newspapers. Being in America, these two little boys grew up to be very successful.
The Industrial Revolution, now also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840.
Before the Industrial Revolution in the United States, Canada and Europe, you might have ended up married to a fourth cousin. People didn’t travel far to find a spouse, and the closer you were to home, the more likely it was you’d marry within your family. Then, in the late 19th century, something changed, and people stopped marrying their cousins. This is something far more common with Jews, though, as they stayed together longer. Jews are an endogamous group
Virginia established full religious freedom in 1785, and the constitution of the USA in 1787 was formally completed. it was not contemplating Jews in its thoughts, however, or Blacks, for that matter but it ironically stipulated that no religious test should be required as a qualification for any public office.
Full emancipation in individual states was delayed. Maryland's came in 1825; North Carolina's in 1868; New Hampshire's in 1876-77, etc.
In France, Jewish emancipation was a natural part of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789s. It was extended in 1790 to the long-established Jews in Avignon and the Sephardim Jews of Bordeaux, etc. It was only with great difficulty that the Germanized Jews of Alace were brought within its scope in 1791.
Napoleon's decret infame of 1808 restricted Jewish municipal rights, but not their political rights, especially in Alace. It was not renewed on its expiration date in 1818. By 1831, the process of emancipation in France was completed by the official recognition of Judaism as a subsidized state religion, treated like the Christian Churches were treated. The armies of the French Revolution had introduced the conception of Jewish emancipation into the countries they conquered.
At this time the Jews of Holland were already to a great extent, socially assimilated, and were formally emancipated in 1796, and so continued afterwards as the Jews of Belgium did when its independence was established in 1830. Emancipation was introduced in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era into those parts of Italy and Germany occupied or influenced by the French such as Westphalia in 1807; Frankfort in 1811; and while Prussia was influenced by this, conceded a qualified emancipation in 1812.
 |
| Jewish wedding with klezmer band in a shtetl in Russia, painting by Isaak Asknaziy, 1893 |
However, when Napoleon fell, all these concessions were rescinded or diluted in various degrees. Jews were then being expelled from some towns in Germany and the ghetto system was restored in Rome and many other parts of Italy. In the 19th century, there was a back and forth process going on. Jewish emancipation was introduced by revolutionary movements and canceled during periods of reaction.
It was again gradually established in Germany in Hesse-Cassel in 1833; Brunswick in 1834; Prussia slightly in 1850, Baden in 1862, Saxony in 1868, etc and was embodied in the constitutions of the North German Federation of 1869 and of the German Empire in 1871. It was introduced into Austro- Hungary in 1867, In Italy the kingdom of Piedmont had established it in 1848 and gradually embraced the whole of Italy, the principle was accordingly extended, finished on the occupation of Rome in 1870. Denmark began the process in 1814 granting municipal emancipation in 1837 and political in 1848.
Other Scandinavian countries followed later. In England, Jews had been kicked out, expulsed from 1290 to 1655. European Jews moved to England hoping to better their lives in the 1700 and 1800s. Champions of Jewish emancipation in the world did not all envisage political emancipation for them, just social, and this included John Toland (1670-1722) born in Ireland, Toland's belief in the need for perfect equality among free-born citizens was extended to the Jewish community, tolerated, but still outsiders in early 18th century England. In his 1714 Reasons for Naturalising the Jews he was the first to advocate full citizenship and equal rights for Jewish people., T.B. Macaulay in England, Abbe Gregore in France, CW von Dorm in Germany, and M. d' Azeglio in Italy. Jews may have been emancipated, but even a social emancipation did not allow Jews in social centers that were exclusive. This is even recognized in Portland, Oregon where Jews were kept out of sororities and fraternities, places like the Athletic clubs, etc. Jewish teenagers had to have their own groups, clubs, dances, etc. and this went on until after the 1950s.
Second Revolution Technology has changed the world in many ways, but perhaps no period introduced more changes than the Second Industrial Revolution. From the late 19th to early 20th centuries, cities grew, factories sprawled and people’s lives became regulated by the clock rather than the sun. It helped to change attitudes about Jews and marriage.
We see it to this day in the treatment of the Blacks as well only even more so as they they are easier to identify. They were emancipated after the Civil War of 1865 but still not yet, really, completely, including all, for their skin color makes them stand out.
 |
| Chabad rabbi performing wedding under the Chupah where both are Jewish |
By the 19th century, the establishment of civil marriages came to most countries and in most cases, meant one partner took the religion of the other. This practice increased in Western Europe and America. In some communities such as in Italy, the proportion of mixed marriages including those where conversion took place, rose to early 2/3rds of all marriages by Jews.
 |
| German Wedding Tradition, sawing a log |
By 1932, 60 mixed marriages took place in Germany for every 100 Jewish marriages. In the US, the rate of intermarriage i very high in some smaller communities though its incidence is checked in the larger towns by the more intense jewish social life. The phenomenon is on the increase. Intermarriage continues to be one of the main threats to continued Jewish existence outside Israel and seriously endangered some European Jewish communities that are already facing decimation by their population by moving to Israel. Jewish law today is that the religion is passed onto the children through their mother, but reform Judaism accepts the one parent policy that if one parent is Jewish, the child is considered Jewish. This is a problem in that if the mother isn't, who will teach the child about their religion and keep up with our ways of remembering it with our holidays, special foods, etc. Judaism is family oriented, a religion, which includes all the aspects, social, language, environmental, cultural, etc. As the religion is watered down, so is the culture. In the majority of cases of a mixed marriage where only one remains Jewish and the other does not convert, the children are lost to Judaism. If that one non-converter is the mother, this is especially true. The genes may be there, but without the environment, the education, the children come out of it more anti-religious than anything.
A survey suggests that a rising percentage of the children of intermarriages are Jewish in adulthood. Among Americans age 65 and older who say they had one Jewish parent, 25% are Jewish today. By contrast, among adults under 30 with one Jewish parent, 59% are Jewish today. In this sense, intermarriage may be transmitting Jewish identity to a growing number of Americans. It also shows
that the offspring of intermarriages – Jewish adults who have only one Jewish parent – are much more likely than the offspring of two Jewish parents to describe themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular. In that sense, intermarriage may be seen as weakening the religious identity of Jews in America.
 |
| Sarah and Abraham were niece and Uncle a normal relationship back then in 2nd Millennium BCE |
Jews have been an endogamous people for a long time. Intermarriage is changing this, bringing in new blood, so to speak. Physically, this is slowing down the process of possible genetic diseases. Iceland is also an endogamous society who now check with their genes before marriage. The Jewish Mosaic law does provide to bar very close relationships, however. 1st cousin marriages are not allowed in the USA for anyone, usually. However, As of February 2014, 24 U.S. states prohibit marriages between first cousins, 19 U.S. states allow marriages between first cousins, and 7 U.S. states allow only some marriages between first cousins. Six states prohibit first-cousin-once-removed marriages.
In retrospect, emancipation was vitally important. It had opened up the doors that were closed to Jews and they were treated as others, though it took a very long time to really "take." The Industrial Revolution moved people about looking for jobs. The bad element of this is that it also opened up the possibility of intermarriage, causing the loss of many of our Jewish population. Knowing these facts should help genealogists to be aware and realize how some of their family members could have been either Jewish or Gentiles.
 |
| Jewish Wedding in Israel, and he is about to step on the glass, a custom in a wedding |
This is why the establishment of Israel is so very important where they can keep their marriage laws as the religion calls for in order to continue while giving everyone emancipation that they hadn't experienced in other places as well. It's a Jewish state, not just a free state like all other free states who just happen to be mostly all Christian or all Muslims or all other religions of the far east. Jews are only 0.02% of the world population and they don't want that fraction to become any the less for they feel they have a lot to offer the world. They are a worthy people and care to continue their lives.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/11/12/what-happens-when-jews-intermarry/
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