For the rabbis, themselves living under foreign rule, it may have been inconceivable to imagine a situation in which Jews constituted the majority and non-Jews needed protection. Perhaps for this reason, the rabbis reconstructed the biblical mandate to protect the stranger as a warning not to discriminate against converts to Judaism. Such is the nature of the world: in times of personal struggle, it becomes difficult to look outward.
Ultimately, the lesson implicit both in the biblical protections of sojourners, and in the rabbinic re-imagination of the ger as a convert, is that history imposes obligations. For the bible, the experience of not being fully secure in Egypt obligates the Jewish people, now secure in their own land, to care for those who remain perpetually on the outside.
Though we may reject the rabbis’ disregard for non-Jews, we can at least learn from the rabbis that our own history of imperfection should prevent us from feeling superior to others.
Within the American context, many Jews have reinterpreted the word “ger” as “immigrant.” Here, the idea that history imposes obligations is extended to reminding Jews that our own community once occupied the position now held by newer immigrant groups.
[Jewish Funds for Justice, http://www.jewishjustice.org/download/section74/strangers%20and%20immigrants.pdf]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. How do you respond to Rabbi Jacobs push "to care for those who remain perpetually on the outside?"
2. How has "Jewish security" in the late 20th and 21st centuries impacted Jewish social justice movements? Has it impacted the Jewish commitment to immigrant rights?
3. Is the argument that "we were once slaves" an effective tool in pushing for social justice against contemporary slavery?
Time Period: Contemporary (The Yom Kippur War until the present-day)