Ger toshav (Hebrew: גר תושב, ger: "foreigner" or "alien" + toshav: "resident", lit. "resident alien")[6] is a halakhic term used in Judaism to designate the legal status of a Gentile (non-Jew) living in the Land of Israel who does not want to convert to Judaism but agrees to observe the Seven Laws of Noah,[8] a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of universal moral laws for the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity.[15] A ger toshav, especially one who decides to follow the Noahic covenant out of religious belief rather than ethical reasoning, is commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile" (Hebrew: חסיד אומות העולם, Chassid Umot ha-Olam: "Pious People of the World"),[18] and is assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba).[10][12][17]
The Encyclopedia Talmudit, edited by rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, states that after the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people were no longer included in the category of the sons of Noah; however, Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot M'lakhim 9:1) indicates that the seven commandments are also part of the Torah, and 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]
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,[12] or alternatively, simply rejects idolatry[5][16] (the latter issue is in particular brought up regarding Muslims).[16] According to the rabbinic tradition, a Gentile who agrees to follow the seven Noahide laws, although not before a beth din, is still regarded as Chassid Umot ha-Olam ("Pious People of the World"),[34] and the observance of the Seven Laws of Noah grants them a place in the 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.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, encouraged his followers on many occasions to preach the Seven Laws of Noah, devoting some of his addresses to the subtleties of this code.[36] Since the 1990s, Orthodox Jewishrabbis from Israel, most notably those affiliated to Chabad-Lubavitch and religious Zionist organizations,[37][38] including The Temple Institute,[37][38] have set up a modern Noahide movement.[37][38] These Noahide organizations, led by religious Zionist and Orthodox Jewish rabbis, are aimed at 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 Filipinos consider themselves members of the "Children of Noah", a newJudaic faith that is growing into the tens of thousands worldwide as ex-Christians encounter forms of Jewish learning online. Under the tutelage of Orthodox Jewishrabbis, Filipino "Noahides", as they call themselves, study Torah, observe the Sabbath, and passionately support a form of messianic Zionism. Filipino Noahides believe that Jews are a racially superior people, with an innate ability to access divinity. According to their rabbi mentors, they are forbidden from performing Jewish rituals and even reading certain Jewish texts. These restrictions have necessitated the creation of new, distinctly Noahide ritual practices and prayers modeled after Jewish ones. Filipino Noahides are practicing a new faith that also 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]
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]
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]
^ abcBromiley, Geoffrey W. (1986). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Vol. 3 (Fully Revised ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 1010. ISBN0-8028-3783-2. 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.
^ abcdeBleich, J. David (1995). Contemporary Halakhic Problems. Vol. 4. New York: KTAV Publishing House (Yeshiva University Press). p. 161. ISBN0-88125-474-6. 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.
^ abcdefghiJacobs, Joseph; Hirsch, Emil G. (1906). "Proselyte: Semi-Converts". Jewish Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2020. In order to find a precedent the rabbis went so far as to assume that proselytes of this order were recognized in Biblical law, applying to them the term "toshab" ("sojourner," "aborigine," referring to the 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).
^ abcdefghi"Noahide Laws". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 14 January 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2020. Noahide Laws, also called Noachian Laws, a JewishTalmudic designation for seven biblical laws given to Adam and to Noah before the revelation to Moses on Mt. Sinai and consequently binding on all mankind. Beginning with Genesis2:16, the Babylonian Talmud listed the first six commandments as prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, and robbery and the positive command to establish courts of justice (with all that this implies). After the Flood a seventh commandment, given to Noah, forbade the eating of flesh cut from a living animal (Genesis 9:4). Though the number of laws was later increased to 30 with the addition of prohibitions against castration, sorcery, and other practices, the "seven laws," with minor variations, retained their original status as authoritative commandments and as the source of other laws. As basic statutes safeguarding monotheism and guaranteeing proper ethical conduct in society, these laws provided a legal framework for alien residents in Jewish territory. Maimonides thus regarded anyone who observed these laws as one "assured of a portion in the world to come."
^ abcdefghijklmnoSinger, Isidore; Greenstone, Julius H. (1906). "Noachian Laws". Jewish Encyclopedia. Kopelman Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2020. The Seven Laws. Laws which were supposed by the Rabbis to have been binding upon mankind at large even before the revelation at Sinai, and which are still binding upon non-Jews. The term Noachian indicates the universality of these ordinances, since the whole human race was supposed to be descended from the three sons of Noah, who alone survived the Flood. [...] Basing their views on the passage in Genesis 2:16, they declared that the following six commandments were enjoined upon Adam: (1) not to worship idols; (2) not to blaspheme the name of God; (3) to establish courts of justice; (4) not to kill; (5) not to commit adultery; and (6) not to rob (Gen. R. xvi. 9, xxiv. 5; Cant. R. i. 16; comp. Seder 'Olam Rabbah, ed. Ratner, ch. v. and notes, Wilna, 1897; Maimonides, "Yad," Melakim, ix. 1). A seventh commandment was added after the Flood—not to eat flesh that had been cut from a living animal (Genesis 9:4). [...] Thus, the Talmud frequently speaks of "the seven laws of the sons of Noah," which were regarded as obligatory upon all mankind, in contradistinction to those that were binding upon Israelites only (Tosef., 'Ab. Zarah, ix. 4; Sanh. 56a et seq.). [...] He who observed the seven Noachian laws was regarded as a domiciled alien, as one of the pious of the Gentiles, and was assured of a portion in the world to come (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 1; Sanh. 105a; comp. ib. 91b; "Yad," l.c. viii. 11).
^ abKellner, Menachem (1991). Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish people. SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy. Albany, New York: SUNY Press. p. 44. ISBN0-7914-0691-1. 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.
^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]
Feldman, Rachel Z. (8 October 2017). "The Bnei Noah (Children of Noah)". World Religions and Spirituality Project. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
