(2) and the LORD your God delivers them to you and you defeat them, you must doom them to destruction: grant them no terms and give them no quarter. (3) You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. (4) For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods, and the LORD’s anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out.
The Gemara presents another opinion. And Geneiva says in the name of Rav: Gentiles’ bread, oil, wine, and daughters were all decreed upon due to the concern that Jews might participate in idol worship with gentiles as a result of intermingling with them. As, when Rav Aḥa bar Adda came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said that Rabbi Yitzḥak says: They decreed a prohibition upon their bread due to their oil. The Gemara asks: In what way is the prohibition with regard to oil stronger than the prohibition with regard to bread? That is, why does the primary concern relate to the oil of gentiles rather than their bread? The Gemara offers a different interpretation: Rather, they issued a decree prohibiting their bread and their oil due to their wine. And they issued the decree prohibiting their wine due to the fact that this leads to familiarity, and Jews will come to marry their daughters. And they issued a decree prohibiting their daughters due to something else, idolatry. And they further issued a decree on something else due to something else, which will be explained by the Gemara.
(א) יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁבָּעַל עַכּוּ''ם מִשְּׁאָר הָאֻמּוֹת דֶּרֶךְ אִישׁוּת. אוֹ יִשְׂרְאֵלִית שֶׁנִּבְעֲלָה לְעַכּוּ''ם דֶּרֶךְ אִישׁוּת הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ לוֹקִין מִן הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ז ג) "לֹא תִתְחַתֵּן בָּם בִּתְּךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לִבְנוֹ וּבִתּוֹ לֹא תִקַּח לִבְנֶךָ". אֶחָד שִׁבְעָה עֲמָמִין וְאֶחָד כָּל אֻמּוֹת בְּאִסּוּר זֶה. וְכֵן מְפֹרָשׁ עַל יְדֵי עֶזְרָא (נחמיה י לא) "וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא נִתֵּן בְּנֹתֵינוּ לְעַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת בְּנֹתֵיהֶם לֹא נִקַּח לְבָנֵינוּ":
(ב) וְלֹא אָסְרָה תּוֹרָה אֶלָּא דֶּרֶךְ חַתְנוּת אֲבָל הַבָּא עַל הַכּוּתִית דֶּרֶךְ זְנוּת מַכִּין אוֹתוֹ מַכַּת מַרְדּוּת מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים. גְּזֵרָה שֶׁמָּא יָבוֹא לְהִתְחַתֵּן.
(1) If a Jewish person sleeps with a non-Jew in the way of married people, they receive biblically ordained lashes, as it says “You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughter to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.” (Deuteronomy 7:3) The same law is true concerning the seven nations of the land of Canaan and all other nations. This is also explained by Ezra, “We will not give our daughters in marriage to the peoples of the land, or take their daughters for our sons.” (Nehemiah 10:31)
2) And the Torah only prohibited marriage, but to come upon a Cuthite woman through harlotry you gve him lashes according to the words of the prophets. And this is a decree lest you come to marry them.
(ט) הָאוֹמֵר יְבָרְכוּךָ טוֹבִים, הֲרֵי זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּינוּת. עַל קַן צִפּוֹר יַגִּיעוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ, וְעַל טוֹב יִזָּכֵר שְׁמֶךָ, מוֹדִים מוֹדִים, מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ. הַמְכַנֶּה בָעֲרָיוֹת, מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ. הָאוֹמֵר, וּמִזַּרְעֲךָ לֹא תִתֵּן לְהַעֲבִיר לַמֹּלֶךְ (ויקרא יח), וּמִזַרְעָךְ לֹא תִתֵּן לְאַעְבָּרָא בְּאַרְמָיוּתָא, מְשַׁתְּקִין אוֹתוֹ בִנְזִיפָה:
(9) A person who, in his prayers to the Almighty, says, "The good shall [alone] bless thee," acts in a heretical manner; if he says, "Even to birds’ nests were thy mercies extended," or, "For thy goodness be thy name remembered," or one who says twice, "Modim" [in the Amidah], he shall be silenced [by authority]. Also, whoever explains the text (Lev. 18:21), Umizaracho lo titen laehavir lamolech to mean, "Thou shalt not give thy seed to an Aramite [heathen] woman," and those who explain figuratively the section in the law relating to the prohibition of carnal intercourse between relatives (Lev. 18), shall be silenced, and publicly reprimanded.
(ז) גֵּר תּוֹשָׁב וְהוּא שֶׁקִּבֵּל עָלָיו שֶׁבַע מִצְוֹת כְּמוֹ שֶׁבֵּאַרְנוּ יֵינוֹ אָסוּר בִּשְׁתִיָּה וּמֻתָּר בַּהֲנָיָה. וּמְיַחֲדִין אֶצְלוֹ יַיִן וְאֵין מַפְקִידִין אֶצְלוֹ יַיִן. וְכֵן כָּל עַכּוּ''ם שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹבֵד עַכּוּ''ם כְּגוֹן אֵלּוּ הַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִים יֵינָן אָסוּר בִּשְׁתִיָּה וּמֻתָּר בַּהֲנָיָה. וְכֵן הוֹרוּ כָּל הַגְּאוֹנִים. אֲבָל אוֹתָם הָעוֹבְדִים עַכּוּ''ם סְתַם יֵינָם אָסוּר בַּהֲנָיָה:
(7) A Ger Toshav -- He who has accepted the Seven Mitzvot of the sons of Noah, as we have explained -- it is prohibited to drink his wine, but it is permitted to derive benefit from it. And one may leave wine with him briefly, but not for a long time. And so too any Gentile who does not worship the stars and the constellations, such as the Ishmaelites, their wine may not be drunk, but one may derive benefit from it. And such instructed all the Geonim. But those who worship the stars and the constellations, one may not derive benefit from their wine.
Josephus, The Jewish War
[The Antiochian Jews] were constantly attracting to their religious ceremonies multitudes of Greeks, and these they had in some measure incorporated with themselves. But no one need wonder that there was so much wealth in our Temple, for all the Jews throughout the habitable world, and Yirei HaShem, even those from Asia and Europe, had been contributing to it for a very long time.
Rabbi Tzvi Peres Chayes, Cheif Rabbi of Vienna, 1921
This is a clear proof, supporting what we know from Jewish-Hellenistic literature, that these PartialGentiles had a reserved section in the temple, apart from the sections for Israelites, Levites and Priests. This is a clear proof that they are not part of Israel but are foreigners, partial converts, who are Jewish according to the essence of their faith, and therefore present for Jewish worship
Mekhilta D'rebbe Yishmael, Exodus 22:20
One shall say: 'I am the L rd's'; another shall call in the name of Yaakov; another shall mark his arm 'of the L rd'; and in the name of Israel he shall be called": "I am the L rd's" — these are the fearers of Heaven, untainted by sin. "another shall call in the name of Yaakov" — these are the minors (who died in childhood), the sons of the wicked in Israel. "another shall mark his arm 'of the L rd'" — these are the penitents. "and in the name of Israel he shall be called — these are the righteous strangers (i.e., the proselytes).
Pesikta Rabbati
When Sarah gave birth to Isaac the nations of the world mocked her saying ‘He is the son of a servant and she pretends to be nursing him. At that time Abraham told Sarah ‘this is not a time for modesty. Present yourself for the sanctification of God’s name. Sarah exposed her breasts and milk came pouring out like springs of water as it is written there (Gen. 21) ‘Who would have told Abraham, Sarah would suckle sons.’.. The nations of the world brought their children to Sarah for breastfeeding...All converts in the world who join the Jewish community and all those who are Yirei HaShem in the world are from those who sucked from Sarah’s milk, hence it is written ‘The mother of the children is joyful.’ (Psalm 113) - this is Sarah
Yechaveh Da'at 4:55 (Rav Ovadia Yosef)
The sages forbade eating the bread of gentiles and idolaters. It seems that the gentiles in our lands who are Muslims and do not worship idols, it is permitted to eat their cooked foods and their bread, and so it seems from the words of the Sheikh, who noted what it says in Section 124:12, that Muslims render wine forbidden only for drinking, not for deriving benefit. What he means to say is that wine used for libations by idolaters is forbidden for drinking and deriving benefit, so the wine of Muslims is one level lower. If so, with their bread and cooked foods, which would ordinarily be forbidden only for eating, if they are not idolaters it is completely permitted.
Yabia Omer 5:10
The entirety of the prohibition against eating gentile bread is because of a concern about seclusion with a gentile woman, and [the concern about] seclusion with a gentile woman is in order to distance oneself from her idolatry. If this is so, it is clear that the decree [about bread] refers specifically to gentiles who perform idolatry, and not regarding gentiles who do not perform idolatry. If so, we have no reason to forbid the bread of Muslims, who disavow idolatry and hate idol-worshippers, and there is no decree about them.
Shulchan Ha'ma'arechet (Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, son of Ovadia Yosef, current Sephardic cheif Rabbi of Israel)
Kiddushin are not effective with a non-Jewish woman, because it is written “do not make marriages with them [for doing so will turn away you son from following Me, that they may serve other gods].” But with a ger toshav woman, since there is no prohibition of “do not make marriages with them” [because they do not serve other gods], kiddushin are effective.
Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl (Israeli Orthodox Rabbi)
We find (Ruth 4:10) that the biblical Ruth, the wife of Mahlon, even when she was with him still had not converted. And it seems that she was a ger toshav, and so the law of marriage from “and he shall cling to his wife” applies, and so she was not included in the category of those who tempt [towards idolatry], even though the hold of Jewish kiddushin did not apply to her.
