Question
Hi Rabbi,
My question for you pertains to intermarriage (i.e., when a Jew marries a non-Jew). Now, before I ask my question, let me state up front that I absolutely accept the halakhic prohibition of intermarriage. That being said, something I read in the Torah recently has me quite puzzled: During the course of his life, Moses was married to two Gentile women, first to Zipporah the Midianite, then to a Cushite woman. So, that fact in mind, my question for you is this: How do Moses’s intermarriages square with the prohibition against intermarriage? Did Moses transgress by marrying Gentile women, or have the rules changed since the time of Moses? Thanks, and take care.
Answer
The Torah was given after Moses already took his wife/wives (according to tradition, Tzipora was the black woman), and all of Israel, including their wives, underwent a “conversion” at Mount Sinai.