Marriage

Author(s): Natubhai Shah
Publisher: UK Jain Academy

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enhances their relationship in several ways:
(a)
Absence (or abstinence) makes the heart grow fonderl. The Talmud describes a wife returning from the mikveh as a new bride under the chuppah (wedding canopy). Indeed, many couples find that it brings feeling of freshness to their marriage, and prevents them from becoming bored with one another.
(b)
Couples adhering to these laws do not get blasé about sex or each other. It is no coincidence that marital infidelity and divorce rates are extremely low amongst religious couples who keep family purity.
The niddah interlude is a time when husband and wife can strengthen their relationship in non-physical ways. Where family purity is observed, a wife is seen as a person not a sexual object.
(d)
Above all, the family purity laws emphasise that the Creator is not limited to synagogues and temples - but that people have to accept His involvement and actively seek it in every aspect of their lives, even in the bedroom.
During the first two thirds of the last century observance of family purity has declined throughout most of Anglo-Jewry. Today it is increasing, as more and more people are returning to their Jewish roots, and young couples are reOdiscovering the meaningfulness of this very private area of their Jewish lives.
Intermarriage (out-marriage)
The Torah forbids marriage between Jew and no-Jew (intermarriage). The reason is explicitly stated in the Bible; the children of a mixed marriage will almost certainly retain little or no loyalty to the ideas of Judaism (cf. Deuteronomy 7:3, Ezra 9:1-10:44).
Intermarriage
From the Jewish perspective, intermarriage violates a Biblical commandment, threatens the future viability of the Jewish people, can confuse the children by generating an identity crisis (which religion shall I follow?),often puts the marriage a risk, and can cause misery in later generations.
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