The Ger Toshav of Today

Foreward to [translation of] Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik's: עוד ישראל יוסף בני חי

Ger Toshav is a Torah (universally accepted) concept that spans the entire Mesora, and exists today.

Every sect of Torah Judaism and selected sages of Israel have written about the Ger Toshav, and in particular of its relevance today. Torah luminaries spanning from The Lubavitcher Rebbe, The Chofetz Chaim, Rebbe Nachman, The Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, and many more have written about the Ger Toshav that was brought down in Chazal and elucidated by the Rishonim. As we all know, the sages of Israel have been known to disagree on certain matters. But the Ger Toshav has defied all odds, and has come up in a unanimous standing as having all sages universally agreeing about its status, and particularly of its status for today.

We have all been told at one point in time that the Ger Toshav does not exist today. Although well intentioned by those that perpetuate this halachic reasoning, the truth to the matter is that this is only half-true. There are some types of Ger Toshav that in fact do not exist today; this is any Ger Toshav connected to the Jubilee year. However, when one fully looks into the sugia of Ger Toshav, one will quickly realize through the unified writings of the sages that Ger Toshav (non-Jubilee) is a real person represented in real halacha in today’s Torah world. In the simplest terms, one clear example would be that a non-Jew who has accepted the 7 Laws of Noach upon himself has removed himself from being considered available as a Shabbos Goy. This distinction is radically different and consequential than simply remaining to refer to such a person as a Noahide. A Noahide can be a Shabbos Goy due to having not fully rejected idolatry on the Torah level of the Ger Toshav [of today] (Shittuf).

The simplest way to either gain or recognize clarity in this sugia is through a clear dichotomy: there are those who have learned through the material, and there are those who have not. The knowledge level is not a test of how much one has learned, for most people that have an opinion on this matter have diligently learned through the relevant sugias shayach for B’nei Noach. What is not common knowledge however is the sheer vastness of Ger Toshav in Torah Mesora. Ger Toshav quite literally and shockingly exists in every aspect of Torah at a prolific rate: Halacha, Talmud, Midrash, Chassidus, Kabbalah, Aggadata, Tefilah, Tanach, etc. Once one has gained proficiency of ‘Ger Torah’ to the extent that one has even delved deeply into the laws of the Eved Canaani (which is a yesod in the Ger Toshav limud; see Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 304) then one can appreciate the Ger Toshav in every aspect, even of today. The most shocking detail of all, is the pristine unity expressed among the Sages of Israel who all teach in harmony of the Ger Toshav in Torah, and of Ger Toshav today in particular.

In closing, the practical knowledge of Ger Toshav of today can be best summarized with a pussuk in Parashas Re’eh 14:21: ‘Give the Neveilah to the Ger in your Gates or sell it to the Nochri’. The Torah demands that in order to fulfill this Mitzvah (for all of time, thus it is pshita then that it exists today, and that it can’t be a convert from clear context) we must know without a doubt who and what is a Nochri and who and what is a Ger Toshav (in your gates). The answer is one is a ‘goy/acum’ and the other is not, having accepted the 7 Laws of Noach. 

This should be enough to encourage any reader to look further into this subject matter, and at the very least anyone with even the most marginal interest will see the beauty and unity of the Torah (of the Ger Toshav) of Moses as expressed through the generations of the Sages of Israel.