What Are the Special Characteristics of the Soul?

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Movement, defines it as follows: A Jew does not desire to, nor can he separate himself from G-d.

It is possible that a Jew is not conscious of the fact that by certain acts he is affecting his relationship with G-d. Were he to be aware of the consequences of his actions, he would not willingly sever his relationship with G-d. Every Jew has his or her ‘red line’, which he will not cross even if he has to pay for it with his life.

Many Jews are Jewish in spite of themselves. They live a life denying their condition as Jews, but at an unexpected situation, when their defenses are low, and they are distracted, their Jewishness jumps out. There are many Jews that invest time, energy and resources to deny their Jewishness. Even though they might vehemently deny it, this behavior is but another manifestation of their undeniable Jewishness, for if they were really not Jews – as they claim – why is it so important to them to deny it?

So, we see, the problem does not begin when a Jewish boy wants to marry a non-Jewish girl. The source of the problem is the fact that he has been deprived of a true Jewish education to the point that he or she doesn’t even realize what it means to be a Jew and the inherent incompatibility between him and his non-Jewish girlfriend.

To many, the opposition to mixed marriages may appear to be elitist and even racist. Why disapprove of a marriage only because one of the members is not Jewish? A Jewish boy who wants to marry a non-Jewish girl might think to himself: ‘What hypocrites! What practical differences are there between my day-to-day behavior or that of my parents and that of the non-Jewish woman that I want to marry?’

It would be very difficult to defend this - apparently hypocritical – resistance on the part of the parents, if not for the fact that we can attribute it to the Neshamah that they have, after all. Their Neshamah does not allow them to accept their child’s crossing this ‘red line’ which serves to (for all practical purposes) irreversibly sever the chain, even though they themselves may not be able to explain why it bothers them so.

In other words, their opposition to their son’s intermarriage is not incoherent. It is their lack of observance of the Mitzvot on a daily basis that is incoherent and inconsistent with their essence.