[Avodah] Ten Tribes (was Yovel)

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger wrote:

> Again, see Yevamos 17a. The gemara asks what about the descendents
> of the daughters of the 10 shevatim?
> Answer 1: There is a mesorah that they went sterile. ...
> Answer 2, given by R' Yehudah besheim Shemu'el: Chakhamim at the
> time declared them non-Jews. And this is proven by a pasuq in
> Hosheia.

I cannot imagine a bigger example of "being Oker a Lav D'Oraisa b'Kum v'Aseh" than that of taking someone who is chayav in taryag mitzvos, and declaring that he is henceforth patur from taryag mitzvos.

Surely someone must ask that question on that gemara. Is anyone familiar with the meforshim on it? Does anyone suggest *how* they made them into non-Jews?

If there is *not* any discussion about this amazing ability to exempt entire shevatim from mitzvos, can we perhaps interpret this as a consensus that "Answer 2" is incorrect, and that all those women really did become sterile?

I find it curious that this idea is being raised on Avodah, at the same time that we have discussions about which stories to take literally, and which are not. To me, the simplest reading of this pasuk (Hoshea 5:7) is exactly as the Metzudas David explains: The children are referred to as "zarim" because the Jewish fathers took non-Jewish wives, and descent is matrilineal.

(Please let me stress that I am not arguing with the Gemara. I would just like to know what the procedure is for turning a Jew into a non-Jew. I am also suggesting that if no such procedure exists, then perhaps we are misunderstanding the Gemara.)

Akiva Miller

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