Welcoming the Convert into the Family of Israel--The Texts

Israel's responsibilities toward converts begin with equal protection, but ultimately require the full integration of the convert into the family of Israel.

By Jeffrey A. Spitzer

The following texts, presented in Hebrew with English translation, accompany a text study exploring the role of converts in Jewish society and the nature of the Jewish community's responsibility toward Jews-by-choice. Click here to see the extended text study.

Numbers 5:5-8

"When a man or woman commits any wrong toward a fellow, breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess the wrong that he has done. He shall repay the injured party and add a fifth to it. If the [injured] man should [die and] and have no relative to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to the Lord… " (Numbers 5:5-8).

 

 

Numbers Rabbah 8:2

"'The Lord loves the righteous; the Lord protects converts' (Psalms 146:8). The Holy Blessed One said, 'I love those who love Me.' This is as it says, 'I honor those that honor Me' (I Sam 2:30). 'They love Me and so I also love them.'"

 

"Why does the Holy Blessed One love the righteous? Because they have neither inheritance nor family. Priests and Levites have an ancestral house, as it says 'House of Aaron, praise the Lord. House of Levi, praise the Lord' (Psalms 146:19). If someone wants to be a kohen (priest) or a Levite, one cannot because one's father was not. But if someone wants to be righteous, even a non-Jew can, since that is not dependent on ancestry."

 

 

 

 

"The Holy One, blessed be He, greatly loves the proselytes. To what may this be compared? To a king who had a flock which used to go out to the field and come in at even. So it was each day. Once a stag came in with the flock. He stayed with the goats and grazed with them. When the flock came in to the fold he came in; when they went out to graze he went out. The king was told about the stag and felt a certain affection for him."

 

"When the stag went out into the field, the king ordered, 'Let him have good pasture; do not harm him; be careful with him!' When he came in with the flock, the king told them, 'Give him water'; he loved the stag very much. The servants said, 'Your majesty! You have such a large flock of goats and lambs and kids, but you never caution us about them; yet you give us instructions every day about this stag!'"

 

"The king responded, 'The other animals have no choice; whether they want or not, it is their nature to graze in the field all day and to come in to sleep in the fold. Stags, however, sleep in the wilderness. It is not in their nature to come into places inhabited by man. Is it not to a sign of this one's merit that he has left behind the whole of the wilderness to stay in our courtyard?' In like manner, ought we not to be grateful to the proselyte who has left behind his family and his relatives, his nation and all the other nations of the world, and has chosen to come to us?"

 

 

 

 

"Accordingly, God has provided the convert with special protection, warning Israel to be very careful not to do any harm to converts, and indeed, it says, 'Love the convert' (Deuteronomy 10:19) and 'You shall not oppress a convert' (Exodus 23:9). So just as one who robs another Israelite incurs an obligation to repay the money and offer a ram of atonement, so the Torah has imposed upon one who robs a convert the obligation to repay the money and offer a ram of atonement… Thus God made clear safeguards so that converts might not return to their former ways."

 

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Numbers Rabbah 8:4

"Joshua initially thought, 'Should we bother with helping these converts?' But the Holy Blessed One said to him, 'Joshua… consider the plant from which you yourself have sprung! Are you not descended from converts?' as it says, 'Unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim whom Asenat, the daughter of Potiphera kohen of On bore' (Genesis 46:20), and as it is written, 'Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun' (Numbers 13:8)."

 

 

 

 

"If this happens to princes, how much more certain is it that ordinary folk [would be punished for abusing converts]! If in the case of the Gibeonites, who did not convert for pure motives, God has so obviously exacted punishment for the shedding of their blood, how much the more so for one who converted with pure motives? Truly, there is no god like their God and no nation like their nation, and we can do no better than attach ourselves to this nation whose God is greater than all other gods!"

 

 

Numbers Rabbah 8:9

"It is written, 'Your children are like olive plants' (Psalms 128:3). The olive tree produces olives for food, olives for drying, and olives for oil; its oil burns brighter than all other oils, and its leaves do not fall off in summer or in winter. So do the descendants of converts turn out; some of them are masters of Bible, some are masters of Mishnah, some are in business, some are scholars, some are sages, and some understand the right time for things."

 

"[Like the leaves that do not fall off,] converts will possess descendants that will endure forever… This, in fact, we find to have been the case with Abraham and Sarah, who were converts. Abraham, having been a God-fearing man, was blessed with an enduring line of descendants, and so will all converts be blessed who behave as Abraham and Sarah did."

 

 

 

 

"'[May God bless you…] and may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel' (Psalms 128:5-6). Does the convert having grandchildren bring peace upon Israel? No; rather, this speaks of a convert who will be privileged to have his daughter marry a kohen, and her children, his grandchildren will be priests and will bless Israel, saying, 'May God bless you and keep you. May God's face shine upon you. May God's face shine upon you and give you peace' (Numbers 6:24). That is why it says, 'Peace be upon Israel' (Psalms 128:6).

 

 

 

 

Jeffrey A. Spitzer is the senior educator at Jewish Family & Life! and the producer of JSkyway, JFL's online professional development program for educators in Jewish schools. He is also a contributing editor for MyJewishLearning.com.