On the night of the holiday of Shavuot Jewish communities throughout the world have engaged in the practice of all night Torah study since at least the 16th century. In keeping with that tradition the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is proud to present a text study to be used on Shavuot night on the topic of immigration justice. We hope this text study will serve as a valuable resource for rabbis, educators and all interested.
I. The Immigrant in Society
How are we to conceive of immigrants in our communities and societies? What rights are accorded to them? What obligations do we have to them? Take a look at these Biblical sources that frame how we are to treat the other in our society. Do you think there are implications for the contemporary immigration problem from these Biblical sources? What are they?
(20) And a foreigner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
(17) Thou shalt not pervert the justice due to the foreigner, or to the fatherless; nor take the widow’s raiment to pledge.
(21) So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel. (22) And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you and to the foreigners that sojourn among you, who shall beget children among you; and they shall be unto you as the home-born among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. (23) And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the foreigner sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
II. Collective Social Responsibility
The Torah in Deuteronomy introduces us to the peculiar rituals around the discovery of an unknown slain person outside the gates of a city. Why does the Bible include these rituals? Take a look at the second source, which is from the Talmud. What does Rabbi Joshua ben Levi add to our understanding of this ritual? Is this a message of social responsibility? If so, to whom and why?
(1) If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him; (2) then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain. (3) And it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke. (4) And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which may neither be plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. (5) And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near—for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. (6) And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. (7) And they shall speak and say: ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. (8) Forgive, O LORD, Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of Thy people Israel.’ And the blood shall be forgiven them. (9) So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.
רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר עובר בשני לאוין אל תלחם ואל תתאו וא"ר יהושע בן לוי אין עגלה ערופה באה אלא בשביל צרי העין שנאמר (דברים כא, ז) וענו ואמרו ידינו לא שפכו את הדם הזה וכי על לבנו עלתה שזקני ב"ד שופכי דמים הם אלא לא בא לידינו ופטרנוהו ולא ראינוהו והנחנוהו לא בא לידינו ופטרנוהו בלא מזונות לא ראינוהו והנחנוהו בלא לוייה
R. Joshua b. Levi also said: [The necessity for] the heifer whose neck is to be broken only arises on account of the miserly of spirit, as it is said: "Our hands have not shed this blood." But can It enter our minds that the elders of a Court of Justice are murderers?! The meaning is, [The man found dead] did not come to us for help and we dismissed him, we did not see him and let him go — i.e., he did not come to us for help and we dismissed him without supplying him with food, we did not see him and let him go without escort.
Become a member of the JCUA and join the Immigration Justice Action Team. It costs nothing and together we can make a real difference! Contact Rabbi Ben Greenberg at [email protected] or by phone at 312-663-0960 ext. 110 to find out how you can get involved.