{"id":46936,"date":"2019-01-06T00:52:20","date_gmt":"2019-01-05T22:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=46936"},"modified":"2022-07-29T14:55:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T11:55:38","slug":"resident-alien-ger-toshav-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/resident-alien-ger-toshav-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Resident Alien (Ger Toshav) \u2013 Then and Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[391,433,453],"acf":{"old_id":"46936","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"126","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"God\u2019s presence resides when we treat others equally","content":"

Our Chapter addresses the status of the g<\/em><\/span>er<\/span><\/em> (resident alien) in a way that seems remarkably relevant to our time: \u201c\u2026There shall be one law for you, whether resident alien or citizen of the country (<\/span>ezrach ha-aretz<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (Num. 9:14). <\/span><\/p>\n

The Steinsaltz commentary makes it clear that g<\/span>er<\/span><\/em> refers to those who are \u201cfrom other nations\u201d (<\/span>me-\u2018amim acherim<\/span><\/em>). According to the Midrash (Sifre to Numbers 9:1– 4 71:1) the biblical phrase \u201cthere shall be one law for you\u201d means that \u201cthe g<\/em><\/span>er <\/span><\/em>is equal to the e<\/em><\/span>zrach<\/span><\/em> (\u201ccitizen\u201d) in respect to all the Mitzvot of the Torah\u201d. The rabbinic sages defined those non-Israelites who lived among Israelites in Israelite territory as g<\/em><\/span>er toshav<\/span><\/em> (\u201cresident alien\u201d) as distinguished from ge<\/em><\/span>r tzedeq<\/span><\/em> (full-fledged convert to Judaism). Maimonides ruled that the law of g<\/em><\/span>er toshav<\/span><\/em> was only in effect when the laws of the Jubilee Year were also in effect. <\/span><\/p>\n

In modern times, after the resettlement of the Land of Israel by Jews, both Rav Abraham Isaac Kook and Rav Chaim Herzog, among others, maintained that the law of g<\/span>er t<\/span><\/em>oshav<\/em> should be applied in our time at least to some non-Jewish residents of Israel. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is worth noting that immediately following the law commanding the equal treatment of the <\/span>Ger<\/span><\/i> in our chapter (verse 14), we are told that the Shekhinah descended to dwell in the Mishkan: \u201cOn the day that the Mishkan was set up, the cloud covered the Mishkan, the Tent of the Witnessing; and in the evening it rested over the Mishkan in the likeness of fire until morning. It was always so: the cloud covered it, appearing as fire by night\u201d (15-16). <\/span><\/p>\n

The contiguity of the law of the <\/span>Ger<\/span><\/em> to the dwelling of the Shekhinah in the Israelite camp suggests that when we regard as our equals those non-Jews who choose to live among us in peace, then God\u2019s Divine Presence too dwells among us.<\/span><\/p>\n

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