{"id":50236,"date":"2019-02-25T22:55:47","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T20:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=50236"},"modified":"2022-09-20T10:35:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T07:35:33","slug":"just-who-is-the-ger-we-are-supposed-to-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-is-the-ger-we-are-supposed-to-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Who Is “The Ger” We Are Supposed To Love?"},"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":[381,453],"acf":{"old_id":"50236","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"163","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Just as God loves all strangers, so must we","content":"

One particular verse in our chapter warrants special consideration: \u201cLove the <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>, for you were <\/span>gerim<\/span><\/em> in the Land of Egypt\u201d (v. 19).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hebrew word <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> has been translated in non-Jewish Bibles as: stranger (King James), sojourner (American Standard Version), foreigner (New International Version), and resident- alien (New American Revised Bible).<\/span><\/p>\n

The history of Jewish translation is also uneven. The venerable Aramaic Targum Onkelos rendered the first <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> as <\/span>giyora<\/span><\/em> (arguably, the selfsame word), while translating <\/span>gerim<\/span><\/em> as <\/span>dayyarin<\/span><\/em>, residents. Sa’adyah Gaon (882-942) translated it into Arabic as <\/span>gharib<\/span><\/em>, stranger in the sense of different. The Jewish Publication Society (Old and New) used stranger, Everett Fox and Robert Alter used sojourner, and ArtScroll (following the lead of Onkelos?) translated <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> as proselyte and <\/span>gerim<\/span><\/em> as strangers. Note that Onkelos was himself a proselyte.<\/span><\/p>\n

This invites the question: Are we supposed to love all strangers, or only proselytes\u2014i.e., those who have converted to Judaism?<\/span><\/p>\n

Logic would dictate that if we are enjoined to \u201clove the <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>\u201d specifically because we were, ourselves, <\/span>gerim<\/span><\/em> in Egypt, then a <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> is someone with whom I have nothing in common save for a shared place of residence. It would clearly seem to exclude a convert with whom I share something as essential as my religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is textual proof as well from the appearance of <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> in the previous verse: \u201c[God] executes justice on behalf of the orphan and widow, and loves the <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>, providing him with food and clothing\u201d (v. 18). Just as the widow and the orphan need God\u2019s protection because they have no one of sufficient social standing to look out for them, so is the <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em> dependent on His grace because he, too, lacks adequate social status on his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as God loves <\/span>all<\/span><\/em> strangers, so must we.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":50016,"id":50016,"title":"dt8-question","filename":"dt8-question.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt8-question.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/moses-answer-to-our-favorite-existential-question\/dt8-question\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt8-question","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":50015,"date":"2019-02-23 19:41:01","modified":"2023-02-04 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