Ger FAQ and Ikkar Klalim [main things]
1. Ger Toshav as an official status does
not exist until the Jubilee Year.
2. Someone today can be considered like a
Ger Toshav, but is still not a Ger Toshav. To accomplish being considered like
a Ger Toshav, is the subject matter of deep scholarship; see Rabbi Ahron
Soloveichick’s Ode Yisrael Yosef Beni Chai who wrote extensively on this
subject matter. English translations are available.
3. A Jew may not marry a Ger Toshav; all
intermarriage is forbidden and will never be allowed, not even in the Messianic
age. The Jewish People have accepted to not engage in this practice, and should
a non-Jew wish to marry a Jewish person under Kosher circumstances, a proper
halachic conversion would be mandatory. Conversion of this nature is not
advised unless the conversion is for the sake of heaven. A proper conversion is
when one converts to become a Torah observant Jew.
4. A Ger Toshav does not keep Shabbat
like a Jew. They are to perform Melacha; see Krisos 9a for the prescribed
manner to which this is done.
5. A person considered like a Ger Toshav,
i.e. a non-idolater has renounced all previous religion. In other words, per
force, they are no longer Christian, Muslim, etc. Along these lines they are
not Jewish either. They accept their role according to Jewish Faith. Jewish
Faith is complete in its doctrines of how to relate to a pious person from
among the Nations.
6. A Ger Toshav is not a Shabbos Goy.
Part of their commitment to God is by not doing Melacha for a Jew; they
respectfully decline. For full comprehension of this law, see hilchos Shabbos;
particularly the laws of when one is dangerously ill.
7. The Torah mentions Ger nearly 100
times, and hardly ever does the term exclusively come to imply a convert to
Judaism. Most times the term can apply simultaneously to a Jewish convert Ger
and a non-convert Ger. This is called ribui, inclusion. The opposite is called
miyut, exclusion. The Torah commentaries are complete with knowledge of when to
read ‘Ger’ as a ribui or a miyut.
8. There are levels of Ger Toshav that
exist for all of time. A few examples are: A Jew who has a commandment to offer
neveilah for free to the Ger Toshav as opposed to selling it to the idolater,
and a non-idolater, a Ger Toshav, may be isolated with Jewish wine in the home
of a Jew. Jubilee doesn’t factor into either scenario, and there are more cases
that are along these lines.
9. The Torah states many times that in
the End of Days, non-Jews will return to God by their own desires, in a time
when the Jewish People aren’t prepared to receive them. These returnees are
called Gerim Grurim (self-returning), and this is one reason why these people
are called ‘Gerim’ in short. The Torah refers to them and this dynamic as such.
10. The Rambam employs two terms for the kosher
righteous gentile: Ger Toshav and ‘From the Chasidei Umot HaOlam’. The term ‘Chasid’
implies that they have done enough to be worthy of performing at a level that
merits a portion of the World to Come. The term Ger Toshav implies that they
have removed their foreskin spiritually enough to merit this level. The Rambam
holds that by keeping the 7 Laws of Noah, with proper intent, and with proper
acceptance [kabbalah], they have done the equivalent of a pre-requisite removal
of their foreskin. There are two levels of circumcision; one that is by Jewish
standard, and will culminate into a halachic Jewish conversion. The other is
not halachic (either through physical or spiritual means) and only serves to remove
the label of ‘uncircumcised’. This does not make the person a Jew in any way,
but it does warrant certain benefits, such as meriting the World to Come, etc.
11. There are two levels of kabbalah/Beit Din [in
declaring Ger Toshav]: one at the time of Jubilee, which brings Ger Toshav
status. This acceptance ensures that the subject is certainly not an idolater,
and thus they are permitted to live in the Land of Israel. When there is no
Jubilee, this is impossible to achieve, and thus certain benefits cannot come
into play until this level of Beit Din is operative. A secondary Beit Din can
be setup at any time and in any place. It grants Ger Toshav status on a lesser
level; it is an inferior kabbalah to that of one in a time of Jubilee. It
serves to renounce idolatry, i.e. shituf. It also serves to elevate the Ger
Toshav to a standing of Sinai, i.e. with kabbalah they can receive reward for
performing the 7 Laws of Noah as one who is ‘commanded and does’. This is
called Ger Toshav, and it should not be confused with Ger Toshav status [to
live in the Land of Israel] which can only happen in a time of Jubilee.
12. An incomplete Ger Toshav (not a full Ger
Toshav) is called a Ben Noah in certain places. They can perform any
commandment in the Torah for the sake of receiving reward. However they will
perform them on the level of one who is ‘not commanded and does’. A Jew is
always considered as being ‘commanded and does’ when any of the 613
commandments are performed. A Ger Toshav [one with kabbalah] is commanded and
does over the 7 Laws of Noah. Doing more is referred to as ‘A Ger who learns
Torah is considered like a High Priest’. One without kabbalah comes under the
status of ‘a goy who learns Torah is liable for the death penalty’. These
matters require deep introspection.
13. A Ben Noah has an inherent obligation of
Talmud Torah concerning the 7 Laws of Noah. Any other Torah study must be in
connection with an intention of performing a permissible deed. The Torah study
is an aide in performing the deed. These laws need looked into for practical
application, for ‘a goy who learns Torah is liable for the death penalty’, and
a Ger who learns Torah is like a High Priest; and there is no contradiction.
14. Ger does not mean convert. Convert is one type
of Ger. The terms and phrases: Ger, Ger Toshav, Ger Tzedek, etc. each carry
multiple meanings; scholarship of Rabbinic Writings and mastery of the Oral
Torah is mandatory.
15. An Eved Canaani is considered a Ger Tzedek; he
is not a Jew, nor a convert. An Eved Canaani who is not circumcised is
considered a Ger Toshav if he accepts the 7 Laws of Noah as grounds for his
servitude. This level of Ger Toshav is not a Chasid, i.e. he is not righteous for
having become a slave, yet the same term is used [Ger Toshav] in both
instances. The Brisker Rav calls this ‘tzvei dinim’ – two laws that derive from
one term/concept.
16. There is a commandment to Love the Ger. All
rule that if the Ger Toshav is not included in this precept, i.e. if it only
refers to a Ger Tzedek [convert or non-convert, i.e. a slave or one who stops
just short of conversion], the commandment at the very least comes to teach
ethics about how to treat strangers. These strangers are called Gerim. They are
real people, and they exist eternally. We are encouraged to recognize them and
to treat them well. They are Gerim.
17. There are no machlokes found in Ger Toshav
sources. The different opinions show a different outcome or scenario based on
which Ger Toshav is factored in. For example, in Avodah Zara 64b [which is
known to be one of the main sources of Ger Toshav] states two opinions [out of
4 total] as to what is the minimal level one is Ger Toshav: rejecting idolatry
or accepting the 7 Laws of Noah. This is not a machlokes. Both opinions can
refer to the minimum requirement of a
Ger Toshav who wishes to live in Israel, and the two opinions represent a
lechatchila and bedieved prescription. In other words, the minimum is to reject
idolatry, but optimally one should keep the 7 Laws of Noah properly [with
kabbalah]. Since we don’t have kabbalah on the level of Jubilee today, the
first opinion of rejecting idolatry/shituf is for the Ger Toshav of today,
while the second opinion of properly keeping the 7 Laws of Noah is the minimum
for a time of Jubilee. The entire discussion of Ger Toshav operates along these
principles, and one with mastery of the subject will see that the words of the
sages are without contradiction and illuminate a working system of ‘Ger Toshav’.
18. Mastery of the terminology [ikkarim] is
essential, for only through mastery of the terminology can one ascertain which
type/level of Ger [Toshav] is spoken of at any location. Terminology is not
empty. For example, the Rambam has a system of when Ger Toshav is Jubilee vs.
Chasid – one is related to the slave while the other is righteous. He also
distinguishes between the goy and the Ben Noah; Ben Noah itself is a matter of
context. Please note: the entire Oral Torah works along these lines, and the
Rishonim most of the time copy and paste their source work from Chazal. To
quote King Solomon: The words of the sages come in riddles. Case in point: ‘a
goy who learns Torah is liable for the death penalty’ is more of a riddle than
a literal decree. It is a mushel, and the nimshal needs sought out.
Commentaries are plentiful; literal understanding is ill-advised.
19. A non-Jew can elevate out of an uncircumcised
state, and without a need to convert. This is called Ger in the Torah, and Ger
Toshav in the Oral Torah. A non-Jew is no longer considered as one of the
nations once they have rejected shituf; this makes them Ger Toshav. Should one
choose to be ultra-specific in terminology (to avoid confusion with Jubilee)
they can be called ‘considered like a Ger Toshav’. The words of the sages work
as such: specific and less specific. This makes the words of the sages
confusing, but context is always available, and consistency is never compromised.
20. The Brisker Rav holds that the minimum level
of kosher observance by a non-Jew must be to take kabbalah and become commanded
and doing in regard to keeping the 7 Laws of Noah.
21. The authority of the Ger Toshav Shabbat
[non-Jewish] and how it works is the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sichas Vol. 31 Parashas
Mishpatim. See also the GRI”D in his commentary to Krisos, where he shows that
the first opinion of Avodah Zara 64b – one who rejects idolatry/shituf, the
minimum level of Ger Toshav [today] is included in the scriptural command laid
out in Shemot 20:10 and Krisos 9a. He is not to be considered a Shabbos Goy.
See Rashi Yevamot 48b who says that should he desecrate the Shabbos in this
way, he is likened to an idolater, which would be a contradiction to his
spiritual path, since he has renounced idolatry. By refusing to be a Shabbos
goy, he is considered to having guarded the day, and thus refrained from
serving idols.
22. A non-Jew can choose to keep the 7 Laws of Noah
as a Jew would observe them as commanded from Sinai. This level of observance
is called Ger Toshav, or keeping the 7 Laws Ger Toshav, as opposed to 7 Laws of
Noah. One example of such observance is to go beyond rejecting idolatry, and to
reject shituf as well.
23. The minimum level of Ger Toshav today comes
without taking kabbalah, but being known to not serving idols. He is called Ger
Toshav [in limited capacity] and can be trusted to handle or be in proximity of
Jewish wine, without causing the wine to be considered idolatrous. A
Yishmaelite is a Ger Toshav on this level, as well as being able to be used for
other rabbinic permissions of Ger Toshav, i.e. the State of Israel’s Heter Mechira.
24. A Yishmaelite is still considered an akum,
does not have a circumcision, i.e.is still considered as having a foreskin, and
does not enjoy any higher liberties of Ger Toshav. He is used in a strictly
bedieved way, whereas a righteous non-Jew who has chosen to not serve idols,
i.e. a Chasid, is not as bedieved in these situations. Only at a time of
Jubilee will a Ger Toshav status be employed on a lechatchila status.
25. All matters of Ger[im] are dangerous, and thus
ride on bedieved measures, for the Talmud warns, ‘harsh like thorns are Gerim
upon Israel’. This is a halachic fact.
26. A Ger Toshav does not belong to the Holy House
of Israel, and thus if two Gerim get married they remain in the 4th
non-Holy House. A convert to Judaism [native status] converts and enters into
the 4th Holy House of Israel, and has the right to marry Jewish into
the Holy House of Israel; their children are Jewish. This is done lechatchila
when their motivation is to be a Jew and produce Jewish offspring. If their
intention is merely to marry Jewish, this is ill-advised, and is considered
bedieved. A Ger Toshav does not seek to be a native Jew, but seeks principles
of Judaism and Torah, for example to reject shituf. One does not need to
convert to reject shituf; they should become a Ger Toshav.
27. Today’s Traditional Noahide has not rejected
shituf, is told that he shouldn’t reject shituf, and is still used as a Shabbos
goy. Noahide organizations claim that Noahide is a translation of Chasid… It
isn’t. A Noahide is synonymous with Nochri, and their view is in direct
conflict with the Brisker Tradition. The difference is that Brisker Tradition
[and everyone else that delves into the Rambam] holds that Ger Toshav and
Chasid are two levels attained with kabbalah. Noahides are led to believe that
Chasid is attainable, even without kabbalah, and Ger Toshav is utterly
unattainable on any level. This is wrong and misleading. The practical outcome
is that Ger Toshav means rejection of shituf with kabbalah, while the contrary
view is to remain engaged in shituf through active encouragement to ignore the
need for kabbalah.
28. Counter-Missionary Noahides are interested in
Jewish Beliefs that replace Christian beliefs. Ger Toshav is categorically
different, for it believes in God, serves God, and grows in understanding God’s
ways. Their beliefs are encapsulated in the dictum, ‘The righteous live in
their faith’ as well as ‘a Ger who learns Torah is like a High Priest’.
Learning Torah [Ger Chasid] and learning about what Jews believe in [counter-missionary
goals] are not the same thing. The difference is Ger Toshav rejects shituf and
believes that one with a foreskin cannot understand the Torah, and rejecting
shituf is the attainment of this level. The foreskin is removed either through
actual circumcision or through mastery of the 7 Laws of Noah. Advanced Counter-Missionary
Noahides are encouraged to convert to Judaism to realize their dream of becoming
Jewish. Gerim [Toshav] realize that they don’t need to convert to have a
relationship with Hashem. Thus paths of Noahide and Conversion are
fundamentally different than that of Ger Toshav; confusing them to be the same
is detrimental to growth. Likewise, confusing Ger [Toshav] Chasid with Ger
Toshav who is a slave or one related to Jubilee, is just as detrimental. They
aren’t the same, though they carry much in common in regard to terminology and
specific laws. If a slave Ger Toshav and a Ger Chasid have anything in common through
law, it is only because both keep the 7 Laws of Noah; one righteously, the
other not. Some laws simply focus on any individual who keeps the 7 Laws of
Noah; thus all types of Ger Toshav would be included. Today’s Ger Toshav is
called into action to refrain from being a Shabbos goy, and likewise, in a time
of Jubilee, a conquered Ger Toshav [non-righteous] would also be prohibited from
being employed as a Shabbos goy. These two scenarios reflect the first two
opinions of Avodah Zara 64b: the righteous Ger Toshav [of today] is prohibited
from being a Shabbos goy due to having rejected shituf with kabbalah. The
Jubilee Ger Toshav is prohibited from the second opinion in A.Z. 64b, that he
is obligated to function as a Ger Toshav for having taken kabbalah through Beit
Din to keep the 7 laws of Noah, rather than a kabbalah on just the rejection of
shituf. The righteous Ger Toshav takes a kabbalah on shituf alone; he is
believed to keep the other 6 Laws of Noah, i.e. without specific kabbalah.
Should he wish to take kabbalah on all 7 Laws of Noah, it is allowed, and is definitely
an admirable trait.
29. Rabbi Meir Kahane’s writings of Ger Toshav
were specific to the Ger Toshav living in the Land of Israel. He did not warn
against righteous Ger Toshav outside the land and who had no practical interest
of living in the Land before Jubilee. He states this clearly in his work Ohr
HaRayon, quoting the Ritva to Makkos 9a, which makes this point clear.
30. Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik in his work Ode
Yisrael Yosef Beni Chai explains the subject matter of Ger Toshav today, and
outlines the distinctions of who is considered in the decree of ‘Show them [the
idolaters] no mercy’ and who is exempt of this for having sufficient status of
not being an idolater. For example, the Yishmaelite is not an idolater when it
comes to being near Jewish wine, yet isn’t considered a Ger Toshav where we
have a commandment to support them.
31. A convert is a Jew, and needs to be thought of
and spoken about in that context and framework only.
32. Ger Toshav is not limited to a resident alien
living in the Land of Israel, as much as Toshav does not always mean ‘resident’.
Ger Toshav is not mentioned anywhere in the Torah [nor Ger Tzedek]; Ger is, and
therefore context and connotation matters the most. Toshav is a rabbinic term
that expresses that one is deemed kosher enough to live in Israel, or as the Rambam
states, he is then permitted to live in Israel. Toshav is effectively a
hechsher; a sign of being kosher. A Ger Toshav is one of a satisfied level of
observance, such that one can be sure that there is no longer a hint of
idolatry that would impede the Torah from being carried out. Some Torah
concepts require higher levels of observance than others. For example, Jewish
wine requires a lesser degree of proof by the non-Jew of having rejected
idolatry than that of the commandment to give the Ger Toshav neveilah. A
Yishmaelite does not qualify to receive a free gift by a Jew, rather he should
be sold the neveilah as per Parashas Re’ eh 14:21. The highest level of sure
kosher observance is required when a non-Jew seeks residence in the Land of
Israel. For this he would need to have a status of Ger Toshav, one that can
only be granted at a time of Jubilee. Along with this comes the scriptural
command to fully sustain them [while living in the Land]. While there is no
Jubilee, we cannot produce such a Beit Din to confer this level. However we can
perform a lesser Beit Din/kabbalah and create a Ger Toshav for lesser
observance, all in the spirit of being able to live in the Land, i.e. carrying
the same requirements. Since the sanctity of the kabbalah is lesser in a
non-Jubilee time, the sanctity of the Ger Toshav that is produced is of a
lesser state. Today for instance, one can be a Ger Toshav, but cannot be deemed
kosher to live in the Land of Israel. They can however approach Jewish wine as
a Ger Toshav, without taking kabbalah, and appearing identical as a highest
level Ger Toshav. The difference is in Jubilee we are certain that they aren’t
idolaters, while today we strongly believe that they are not idolaters. The differenced
by wine is one of a rabbinic decree vs. a scriptural one. There is room to be
lenient when the prohibition is rabbinic as opposed to when the prohibition is
scriptural and the consequences are infinitely more consequential. The examples
are many, and scholarship is of the essence. See Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik’s Ode
Yisrael Yosef Beni Chai.
33. This
is not a complete list, but rather it is a start to show clarity in Ger Toshav
studies, and to clear up misinformation about Ger Toshav.
Ger Toshav Sources:
·
Rambam
Hilchos Melachim 8:10-11
·
Rambam
Hilchos Melachim 10:9-10
·
Rambam
Hilchos Issurei Biah 14:7-8
·
Avodah
Zara 64b
·
Krisos
9a
·
Makkos
9a
·
Yevamos
48b
·
Shulchan
Aruch O.C. 304
·
Griz
on the Rambam
·
Rabbi
Ahron Soloveichik’s ‘Ode Yisrael Yosef Beni Chai’
·
Lubavitcher
Rebbe Sicha Vol. 31 Parashas Mishpatim
·
Rashi
Yevamot 48b
·
Rabbi
Nevantzhal on Shavuot [Ruth the Ger Toshav]
·
Rabbi
Yoel Schwartz [Noahide Shabbat]
·
Sefer
HaChinuch Mitzvah #431 [Love the Ger]
·
Piskei
Halacha in Choshen Mishpat and Yoreh Deah concerning Ger Toshav [wine, lo
techanem, etc.]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.