Monday, June 22, 2020

Slaves of Jews are viewed closer than even Noahides (Ger Toshav)


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A "ger tohav" is a special distinction of Noahide, it means a Noahide who lives within the borders of Israel. Sometimes Noahide apologists, especially Jewish ones, will either try to confuse you or are uninformed themselves when they try to convince you the Noahide Laws are not dangerous because no "ger toshavs" can be accepted without a Great Sanhedrin (highest Jewish legal court) in Israel. First, this only applies within the land of Israel, Noahides are accepted globally today. However, even though it is technically religiously illegal (this is disputable) to provide the special title of "ger toshav" today, you will find that the nation of Israel has no problem bending the law and accepting "ger toshavs" for the religious purposes of their own nation and this has governmental backing (here). However, it would seem that if the Great Sanhedrin were rebuild, as it was in ancient times, slaves of Jews would be viewed as "closer" to Jews than the ger toshav because unlike the ger toshav who must only follow the 7 Noahide Laws, the slave of a Jew must submit to many many more laws than this. For this reason slaves of Jews are viewed as closer to the Jewish community than even Noahides, what kind of caste system is this?

DIRECT QUOTE 

Secondly, a slave (eved Canaani) is mandated to keep all the commandments, except for those affirmative commandments that are time-based, and this for obvious reasons – slaves by definition have little control over their own time. From this perspective, it follows that the halakhic system views an eved Canaani as closer to being Jewish than even a ger toshav (resident alien) who is only expected to fulfill the seven laws of Noah. As such, the eved Canaani is a respected member of our community.



FULL ARTICE


https://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/devar-torah/fl-jjps-torah-0201-20170130-story.html

Weiss: Is slavery a Torah value?
By RABBI AVI WEISS
JAN 30, 2017 AT 11:51 AM

As the Jews are leaving Egypt, God commands them to sacrifice the Paschal lamb. Following that commandment, a strange rule is spelled out. The Torah describes how a slave may partake of the offering. In the words of the Torah, "And every man's servant that is bought for money, thou may circumcise him and then he may eat thereof." (Exodus 12:44) After experiencing the horrors of slavery and entering a state of freedom, it would seem most logical for the Torah to outlaw the institution of slavery altogether.

In order to understand why the Torah permits slavery, it must be recognized that slavery was universally accepted in Biblical times. Rather than ignore that reality, the Torah deals with slavery in an extraordinarily ethical way.

First, as R. Samson Raphael Hirsch notes, "no Jew could make any other human being into a slave. He could only acquire by purchase, people who, by the then universally accepted international law, were already slaves." Hence, coming into a Jewish household – with its greater sensitivity towards the welfare of a slave – is considered a step up.

Secondly, a slave (eved Canaani) is mandated to keep all the commandments, except for those affirmative commandments that are time-based, and this for obvious reasons – slaves by definition have little control over their own time. From this perspective, it follows that the halakhic system views an eved Canaani as closer to being Jewish than even a ger toshav (resident alien) who is only expected to fulfill the seven laws of Noah. As such, the eved Canaani is a respected member of our community.

Thirdly, the Torah tells us that, if the slave wishes, he may be circumcised. The Talmud quotes the opinion that once circumcised and immersed (thereby becoming fully Jewish), the former slave can participate in eating the Paschal sacrifice. This is precisely the point of our aforementioned Biblical verse. (Yevamot 48b)

Fourth and most important is the alternative view found in the Talmud, which insists that if any Jew has a slave who is not circumcised, not even the owner himself may partake of the Paschal lamb. In other words, when the Torah states "then he may eat thereof," the "he" refers to the owner. Indeed, this Talmudic opinion is making the stunning statement that it is incongruous for a Jew to celebrate Passover by eating the Paschal lamb – the symbol of freedom – while having a slave in his home (see the commentary of R. Samson Raphael Hirsch).


The Torah has been criticized for supporting the institution of slavery. In point of fact, it attempts to make ethical an already well-entrenched institution. The ethical sensitivity displayed by the Torah reveals that the concept of "eved" has nothing to do with slavery as understood in contemporary times.



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