Ger toshav

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about resident aliens in the Land of Israel according to the Jewish tradition. For discussion of the "stranger" in the Bible, see Proselyte.

The rainbow is the unofficial symbol of Noahidism, recalling the Genesis flood narrative in which a rainbow appears to Noah after the Flood; it represents God's promise to Noah to refrain from flooding the Earth and destroying all life again.[1]

Ger toshav (

World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba).[10][12][17]

Definition

Main article: Seven Laws of Noah
Further information: Covenant (biblical) § Noahic covenant

A ger toshav ("resident alien") is a

Babylonian Talmud (Avodah Zarah 8:4, Sanhedrin 56a-b):[24]

  1. Do not worship idols.[25]
  2. Do not curse God.[26]
  3. Do not murder.[27]
  4. Do not commit adultery or sexual immorality.[28]
  5. Do not steal.[29]
  6. Do not eat flesh torn from a living animal.[30]
  7. Establish
    courts of justice.[32]

The

Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 59a, see also Tosafot ad. loc.) states that Jews are obligated in all things that Gentiles are obligated in, albeit with some differences in the details.[13] According to the Encyclopedia Talmudit, most medieval Jewish authorities considered that all the seven commandments were given to Adam, although Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) considered the dietary law to have been given to Noah.[13]

The term ger toshav may be used in a formal or informal sense. In the formal sense, a ger toshav is a Gentile who officially accepts the seven Noahide laws as binding upon themself in the presence of three haberim (men of authority),[5] or, according to the rabbinic tradition, before a beth din (Jewish rabbinical court).[16] In the Talmud there are two other, differing opinions (Avodah Zarah, 64b) that pertain to which commandments the ger toshav is required to follow:[33]

  1. To abstain from idolatrous practices of any kind (detailed in Exodus 20:2–4 and Deuteronomy 5:6–8).[5]
  2. To uphold all the
    613 commandments in rabbinical enumeration,[5] except for the prohibition against eating kosher animals that died by means other than ritual slaughter, or possibly[16] (Meiri) any prohibition not involving kareth
    .

The accepted opinion is that the ger toshav must accept the Seven Laws of Noah before a rabbinical court of three.[5][16] They will receive certain legal protection and privileges from the community, the rules regarding Jewish-Gentile relations are modified, and there is an obligation to render him aid when in need. The restrictions on having a Gentile do work for a Jew on the Shabbat are also greater when the Gentile is a ger toshav.[16]

In the informal sense, a ger toshav is a Gentile who agrees to follow the seven Noahide laws on his own,

World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba).[35] There is a debate among the halakhic authorities as to whether the rules regarding a ger toshav would apply to the informal case.[5][16]

The procedure to officially recognize the legal status of ger toshav has been discontinued since the cessation of the year of Jubilee with the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem;[3] hence, there are no formal gerim toshavim extant today.[3] However, it can be argued that a great deal are "informal" ones,[16] especially since it is possible to be a Chassid Umot ha-Olam even when the Jubilee year is not observed.

Modern times and views

Main articles: Noahidism and Religious Zionism
Further information:
Jewish supremacism

non-Jews in order to proselytize among them and commit them to follow the Noahide laws.[37][38] According to Rachel Z. Feldman,[37] American anthropologist and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Dartmouth College, many of the Orthodox Jewish rabbis involved in mentoring Noahides are supporters of the Third Temple movement who believe that the messianic era shall begin with the establishment of a Jewish theocratic state in Israel, supported by communities of Noahides worldwide:[37]

Today, nearly 2,000

affirms the superiority of Judaism and Jewish biblical right to the Land of Israel, in line with the aims of the growing messianic Third Temple Movement in Jerusalem.[37]

Feldman describes Noahidism as a "

Jewish theology and ethics at the University of Toronto, has denounced the modern Noahide movement by stating that "If Jews are telling Gentiles what to do, it’s a form of imperialism".[39]

According to the Jewish philosopher and professor Menachem Kellner's study on Maimonidean texts (1991), a ger toshav could be a transitional stage on the way to becoming a "righteous alien" (Hebrew: גר צדק, ger tzedek), i.e. a full convert to Judaism.[40] He conjectures that, according to Maimonides, only a full ger tzedek would be found during the Messianic era.[40] Furthermore, Kellner criticizes the assumption within Orthodox Judaism that there is an "ontological divide between Jews and Gentiles",[41] which he believes is contrary to what Maimonides thought and the Torah teaches,[41] stating that "Gentiles as well as Jews are fully created in the image of God".[41]

According to Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the status of ger toshav will continue to exist, even in the Messianic era. This is based on the statement in Hilkhot M'lakhim 12:5 that lit. “all the world (kol ha'olam) will be nothing but to know G‑d." In its plain meaning, he asserts, kol ha'olam also includes Gentiles. As proof, he cites 11:4, which deals with the Messianic era, and the similar term ha'olam kulo, "the world in its entirety", refers to Gentiles. Continuing the text in Hilkhot M'lakhim 12:5, Maimonides explicitly changes the topic to Jews by using the term Yisra'el, explaining that "Therefore, the Jews will be great sages and know the hidden matters, grasping the knowledge of their Creator according to the full extent of human potential", indicating that Jews and Gentiles will co-exist in the time of the Messiah.[42] In any case, even when there is a Jewish king and a Sanhedrin, and all the twelve tribes live in the Land of Israel, Jewish law does not permit forcing someone to convert and become a ger tzedek against his will.[43]

High Council of Bnei Noah

Main article: 2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin

A "High Council of Bnei Noah", set up to represent Noahide communities around the world, was endorsed by a group that claimed to be the new Sanhedrin.[44] The High Council of Bnei Noah consists of a group of Noahides who, at the request of the nascent Sanhedrin, gathered in Jerusalem on 10 January 2006 to be recognized as an international Noahide organization for the purpose of serving as a bridge between the nascent Sanhedrin and Noahides worldwide.[45] There were ten initial members who flew to Israel and pledged to uphold the Seven Laws of Noah and to conduct themselves under the authority of the Noahide beth din (religious court) of the nascent Sanhedrin.[45]

Non-necessity of conversion

Christine E. Haye argues that the gerim were not necessarily converts in the Hebrew Bible, whether in the modern or rabbinic sense. Nonetheless, they were granted many rights and privileges when they lived in the Land of Israel. For example, they could offer sacrifices, actively participate in Israelite politics, keep their distinct ethnic identity for many generations, inherit tribal allotments etc.[46]

See also

References

  1. covenant with Abraham and his descendants. The covenant with Noah is expanded to the entire primeval period, encompassing all the revealed commandments preceding Sinai
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-8028-3783-2. In rabbinic literature the ger toshab was a Gentile who observed the Noachian commandments but was not considered a convert to Judaism because he did not agree to circumcision. …some scholars have made the mistake of calling the ger toshab a "proselyte" or "semiproselyte." But the ger toshab was really a resident alien in Israel. Some scholars have claimed that the term "those who fear God" (yir᾿ei Elohim/Shamayim) was used in rabbinic literature to denote Gentiles who were on the fringe of the synagogue
    . They were not converts to Judaism, although they were attracted to the Jewish religion and observed part of the law.
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-88125-474-6. Rashi, Yevamot 48b, maintains that a resident alien (ger toshav) is obliged to observe Shabbat. The ger toshav, in accepting the Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noah, has renounced idolatry and […] thereby acquires a status similar to that of Abraham. […] Indeed, Rabbenu Nissim, Avodah Zarah 67b, declares that the status on an unimmersed convert is inferior to that of a ger toshav because the former's acceptance of the "yoke of the commandments" is intended to be binding only upon subsequent immersion. Moreover, the institution of ger toshav as a formal halakhic construct has lapsed with the destruction of the Temple
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-19507273-0
    .
  5. ^
    Canaanites; see Maimonides
    ' explanation in "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7; see Grätz, l.c. p. 15), in connection with "ger" (see Ex. xxv. 47, where the better reading would be "we-toshab"). Another name for one of this class was "proselyte of the gate" ("ger ha-sha'ar," that is, one under Jewish civil jurisdiction; comp. Deut. v. 14, xiv. 21, referring to the stranger who had legal claims upon the generosity and protection of his Jewish neighbors). In order to be recognized as one of these the neophyte had publicly to assume, before three "ḥaberim," or men of authority, the solemn obligation not to worship idols, an obligation which involved the recognition of the seven Noachian injunctions as binding ('Ab. Zarah 64b; "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7). [...] The more rigorous seem to have been inclined to insist upon such converts observing the entire Law, with the exception of the reservations and modifications explicitly made in their behalf. The more lenient were ready to accord them full equality with Jews as soon as they had solemnly forsworn idolatry. The "via media" was taken by those that regarded public adherence to the seven Noachian precepts as the indispensable prerequisite (Gerim iii.; 'Ab. Zarah 64b; Yer. Yeb. 8d; Grätz, l.c. pp. 19–20). The outward sign of this adherence to Judaism was the observance of the Sabbath (Grätz, l.c. pp. 20 et seq.; but comp. Ker. 8b).
  6. ^ [2][3][4][5]
  7. ^
    ISSN 0295-5652 – via Cairn.info
    .
  8. ^ [2][3][5][7]
  9. ^
    S2CID 246335626. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-002-865-928-2. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2023 – via Encyclopedia.com
    .
  11. ^
    world to come
    ."
  12. ^
    world to come
    (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 1; Sanh. 105a; comp. ib. 91b; "Yad," l.c. viii. 11).
  13. ^
    ISBN 0873067142
    .
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Spitzer, Jeffrey (2018). "The Noahide Laws". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  15. ^ [7][9][10][11][12][13][14]
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zevin, Shlomo Yosef, ed. (1979). ""Ger Toshav", Section 1". Encyclopedia Talmudit (in Hebrew) (4th ed.). Jerusalem: Yad Harav Herzog (Emet).
  17. ^ a b c d Moses Maimonides (2012). "Hilkhot M'lakhim (Laws of Kings and Wars)". Mishneh Torah. Translated by Brauner, Reuven. Sefaria. p. 8:1–11. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  18. ^ [12][14][16][17]
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8122-0586-2
    .
  20. ^
    LCCN 2016028972
    .
  21. ^ [2][3][5][12][16][19][20]
  22. ^ Genesis 2:16
  23. ^ See Genesis Rabbah 34; Sanhedrin 59b
  24. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  25. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  26. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  27. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  28. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  29. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  30. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20]
  31. ^ "Sanhedrin 56". Babylonian Talmud. Halakhah.
  32. ^ [11][12][13][14][19][20][31]
  33. ^ [19][20][16]
  34. ^ [12][14][16][17]
  35. ^ [12][14][17]
  36. ISBN 978-0-8266-5781-7
    .
  37. ^
    Project MUSE
    .
  38. ^ a b c d Ilany, Ofri (12 September 2018). "The Messianic Zionist Religion Whose Believers Worship Judaism (But Can't Practice It)". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  39. ^ Kress, Michael (2018). "The Modern Noahide Movement". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  40. ^
    ISBN 0-7914-0691-1
    . against my reading of Maimonides is strengthened by the fact that Maimonides himself says that the ger toshav is accepted only during the time that the Jubilee is practiced. The Jubilee year is no longer practiced in this dispensation [...]. Second, it is entirely reasonable to assume that Maimonides thought that the messianic conversion of the Gentiles would be a process that occurred in stages and that some or all Gentiles would go through the status of ger toshav on their way to the status of full convert, ger tzedek. But this question aside, there are substantial reasons why it is very unlikely that Maimonides foresaw a messianic era in which the Gentiles would become only semi-converts (ger toshav) and not full converts (ger tzedek). Put simply, semi-converts are not separate from the Jews but equal to them; their status is in every way inferior and subordinate to that of the Jews. They are separate and unequal.
  41. ^
    Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Marc D. Angel. Archived
    from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  42. ^ Schneerson, Menachem Mendel. Sha'arei Ge'ulah. pp. 267–8 (translated from Hebrew; emphasis and round brackets, but not the square brackets, in original text): There is a further detail in the wording of the Rambam in the completion and conclusion of his book [Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 12:5]: "And the occupation of the entire world will not be anything other than to know G‑d." Because in its plain meaning, it thereby includes the nations of the world as well (similar to what the Rambam wrote in the previous chapter, that the Messianic king will "improve the world in its entirety to serve G‑d ... I will transform the nations etc."), especially since immediately afterwards the Rambam changes [terminology] and writes "And therefore Israel will be great sages etc."[citation needed]
  43. ^ Moses Maimonides (2012). "Hilkhot M'lakhim (Laws of Kings and Wars)". Mishneh Torah. Translated by Brauner, Reuven. Sefaria. p. 8:10. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  44. ^ HaLevi, Ezra (28 September 2005). "Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides". Arutz Sheva. Beit El. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  45. ^ a b HaLevi, Ezra (10 January 2006). "A group of non-Jewish delegates have come to Jerusalem to pledge their loyalty to the Laws of Noah". Arutz Sheva. Beit El. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  46. ISBN 9780199834273
    .

Bibliography
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