The Theology of Jewish Racism (Our Birthright)
(לב) (כו) אָמַר הַכּוּזָרִי: אִם כֵּן אֲנִי רוֹאֶה שֶׁתּוֹרַתְכֶם אֵינָה נְתוּנָה כִּי אִם לָכֶם.
(לג) (כז) אָמַר הֶחָבֵר: כֶּן־הוּא, וְכָל הַנִּלְוָה אֵלֵינוּ מִן הָאֻמּוֹת בִּפְרָט יַגִּיעֵהוּ מִן הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר יֵיטִיב הַבּוֹרֵא אֵלֵינוּ, אַךְ לֹא יִהְיֶה שָׁוֶה עִמָּנוּ. וְאִלּוּ הָיָה חִיּוּב הַתּוֹרָה מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבְּרָאָנוּ הָיָה שָׁוֶה בָּהּ הַלָּבָן וְהַשָּׁחוֹר, כִּי הַכֹּל בְּרִיאוֹתָיו. אַךְ הַתּוֹרָה מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם, וְהִתְחַבְּרוּת כְּבוֹדוֹ אֵלֵינוּ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ נִקְרָאִים הַסְּגֻלָּה מִבְּנֵי אָדָם.
(32) 26. Al Khazari: If this be so, then your belief is confined to yourselves?
(33) 27. The Rabbi: Yes; but any Gentile who joins us unconditionally shares our good fortune, without, however, being quite equal to us. If the Law were binding on us only because God created us, the white and the black man would be equal, since He created them all. But the Law was given to us because He led us out of Egypt, and remained attached to us, because we are the pick of mankind.
(צה) אָמַר הֶחָבֵר: הַרְפֵּה לִי מְעַט, עַד שֶׁאֲבָאֵר אֶצְלְךָ גְדֻלַּת הָעָם, וְדַי לִי לְעֵד, שֶׁהַשֵּׁם בְּחָרָם לְעָם וּלְאֻמָּה מִבֵּין אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, וְחוּל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי עַל הֲמוֹנָם עַד שֶׁהִגִּיעוּ כֻלָּם אֶל מַעֲלַת הַדִּבּוּר. וְעָבַר הָעִנְיָן אֶל נְשֵׁיהֶם וְהָיוּ מֵהֶן נְבִיאוֹת, אַחַר שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה חָל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי כִּי אִם בִּיחִידִים מִבְּנֵי אָדָם אַחַר אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן ...
וְאַבְרָהָם סְגֻלַּת עֵבֶר וְתַלְמִידוֹ וְעַל כֵּן נִקְרָא עִבְרִי, וְעֵבֶר הָיָה סְגֻלַּת שֵׁם וְשֵׁם הָיָה סְגֻלַּת נֹחַ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא יוֹרֵשׁ הָאַקְלִימִים הַשָּׁוִים אֲשֶׁר אֶמְצָעִיתָם וְחֶמְדָּתָם אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אַדְמַת הַנְּבוּאָה, וַיֵּצֵא יֶפֶת אֶל צָפוֹן וְחָם אֶל דָּרוֹם ...
וּסְגֻלַּת יִצְחָק – יַעֲקֹב, וְנִדְחָה עֵשָׂו אָחִיו מִפְּנֵי שֶׁזָּכָה יַעֲקֹב בָּאָרֶץ הַהִיא, וּבְנֵי יַעֲקֹב כֻּלָּם סְגֻלָּה, כֻּלָּם רְאוּיִים לָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי, וְהָיָה לָהֶם הַמָּקוֹם הַהוּא הַמְיֻחָד בָּעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי, וְזֶה הָיָה תְחִלַּת חוּל הָעִנְיָן הָאֱלֹהִי עַל קָהָל, אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָיָה נִמְצָא כִּי אִם בִּיחִידִים.
95. The Rabbi: Bear with me a little while that I show the lofty station of the people. For me it is sufficient that God chose them as His people from all nations of the world, and allowed His influence to rest on all of them, and that they nearly approached being addressed by Him. It even descended on their women, among whom were prophetesses, whilst since Adam only isolated individuals had been inspired till then ...
Abraham represented the essence of Eber, being his disciple, and for this reason he was called Ibri. Eber represented the essence of Shem, the latter that of Noah. He inherited the temperate zone, the centre and principal part of which is Palestine, the land of prophecy ...
The prerogative of Isaac descended on Jacob, whilst Esau was sent from the land which belonged to Jacob. The sons of the latter were all worthy of the divine influence, as well as of the country distinguished by the divine spirit. This is the first instance of the divine influence descending on a number of people, whereas it had previously only been vouchsafed to isolated individuals.
Holiness as a Response and Responsibility, not a Right
(1) The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.
(י) הֲל֨וֹא אָ֤ב אֶחָד֙ לְכֻלָּ֔נוּ הֲל֛וֹא אֵ֥ל אֶחָ֖ד בְּרָאָ֑נוּ מַדּ֗וּעַ נִבְגַּד֙ אִ֣ישׁ בְּאָחִ֔יו לְחַלֵּ֖ל בְּרִ֥ית אֲבֹתֵֽינוּ׃
(1) And now, O priests, this charge is for you: (2) Unless you obey and unless you lay it to heart, and do honor to My name—said the Eternal of Hosts—I will send a curse and turn your blessings into curses. (Indeed, I have turned them into curses, because you do not lay it to heart.) (3) I will put your seed under a ban, and I will strew dung upon your faces, the dung of your festal sacrifices, and you shall be carried out to its [heap]. (4) Know, then, that I have sent this charge to you that My covenant with Levi may endure—said the Eternal One of Hosts. (5) I had with him a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave to him, and of reverence, which he showed Me. For he stood in awe of My name. (6) Proper rulings were in his mouth, And nothing perverse was on his lips; He served Me with complete loyalty And held the many back from iniquity. (7) For the lips of a priest guard knowledge, And men seek rulings from his mouth; For he is a messenger of the God of Hosts. (8) But you have turned away from that course: You have made the many stumble through your rulings; you have corrupted the covenant of the Levites—said the God of Hosts. (9) And I, in turn, have made you despicable and vile in the eyes of all the people, because you disregard My ways and show partiality in your rulings. (10) Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we break faith with one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
(7) To Me, O Israelites, you are Just like the Ethiopians —declares the Eternal. True, I brought Israel up From the land of Egypt, But also the Philistines from Caphtor And the Arameans from Kir. (8) Behold, the Eternal God has His eye Upon the sinful kingdom: I will wipe it off The face of the earth! But, I will not wholly wipe out The House of Jacob —declares the Eternal. (9) For I will give the order And shake the House of Israel— Through all the nations— As one shakes [sand] in a sieve, And not a pebble falls to the ground. (10) All the sinners of My people Shall perish by the sword, Who boast, “Never shall the evil Overtake us or come near us.”
Tiferet Yisrael (Israel Lifschitz, 1782-1860) Avot 3:14
Says the commentator: Since we are discussing this topic, let us say something which it is a mitzvah to publicise. My whole life I have been troubled by the statement of the Sages in Yevamot (ibid) which says “you are called ‘Adam’ but non-Jews are not called ‘Adam’.”
I find this difficult – could you think that the Sages would say about an idolater who is in the image of God, as we have explained, that he is considered like an animal? Furthermore, if so, what does it mean when God says, “You shall be more treasured by Me than all the nations”? If all the other nations are only like animals, then this verse is only saying that “You shall be more treasured by Me than all the animals, and all the monkeys who resemble humans with their form.” Furthermore, if so all their actions would be like the actions of animals, who are incapable of receiving reward or punishment. This contradicts what we know that the righteous of the non-Jewish nations have a portion in the World-to-Come (based on Sanhedrin 105 and Rambam chapter 8 of ‘Laws of Kings’).
Even without the holy mouths of our Sages, who tell us this, we would already know from logic, because God is just in all His ways, and righteous in all His deeds. We see many of them are righteous. Not only do they recognise the Creator of Genesis, and believe in His Torah that it is Divine, and they also do kindness like Yisrael. Some have done extraordinary good things for the inhabitants of the world, like the righteousJenner who invented the vaccine (for smallpox) which saves hundreds of thousand of people from illness, death or disfiguration. And Drake (Sir Francis Drake 1540-1596) who brought the potato to Europe, and thus prevented famine many times. Or Guttenberg who invented the printing press. Several of them were not paid at all in this world, like the righteous Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522), who was prepared to lay down his life to prevent the burning of the Talmud. This was commaned by Caesar (Holy Roman Emporer) Maximillian (I) in the year 5262 through the activism of the heretic Pfefferkorn (1469-1523) and the priests, his wicked group. This Reuchlin risked his life and based on his claims he persuaded the Caesar to retract his decree. Because of this he was hounded and the priests, his enemies, made his life a misery. They pressured him until eventually he died in dire straits and broken hearted.
Could we think that all these great deeds would not be repaid in the World-to-Come, behind the ‘curtain’ – Heaven forbid! God does not withhold the reward of any creature.
If you would suggest that even though these righteous people kept all the seven mitzvoth of Bnei Noach (from Sanhedrin 56b), nevertheless they do not have the status of ‘Ger Toshav’ since they did not accept these mitzvoth before three Rabbis (based on Avoda Zara 64b). Furthermore, we do not accept Ger Toshav nowadays, only at the time that the mitzvah of Yovel applies (Erechin 29a). Even so, since they did not act like Esav, they have reward in the World-to-Come (based on Avoda Zara 10b).
Rabbi Yitzhak Greenberg (1933-present), Riverdale, NY
The Talmud makes clear that every human, as an image of God, is endowed with three intrinsic dignities: infinite value, equality and uniqueness (Sanhedrin 37a). This completely demolishes racism. However, over millennia of gentile persecution, a lot of antagonism crept into Jewish attitudes. Thus, one rabbi in the Talmud lashes out, “You [Jews] are called Adam [that is, the image of God] but idolaters/gentiles are not.” Considering ongoing Christian and Islamic denigration of Jews as less than human, such backlash is understandable. In modern times, though, great rabbis such as Rav Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook in Israel and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik in the United States reaffirmed the universal dignity of all people.
Still, narrow-minded, socially isolated fundamentalist Orthodox rabbis often seize upon past texts of anger and rejection and seek to apply them to gentiles today. Recently, Channel 13 in Israel broadcast videotapes revealing that important rabbis at a pre-army Mechina (training program) openly endorsed racism. They claimed that racial theory proved Jewish superiority. They justified permanent annexation of the West Bank on the grounds that the Arabs are an inferior race and would welcome being subservient to Jews. Such comments are especially disgusting coming after the Holocaust and the evidence that racism leads to hatred and genocide. The prophet’s cry “We have one father: One God created all of us” (Malachi 2:10) rebukes such vicious attitudes. Sadly, Orthodoxy has a lot of work to do to root out racist and anti-other attitudes in its religious leadership and culture.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference, First Edition
The great faiths must now become an active force for peace and for the justice and compassion on which peace ultimately depends. That will require great courage and perhaps something more than courage: a candid admission that, more than at any time in the past, we need to search – each faith in its own way –for a way of living with, and acknowledging the integrity of, those who are not of our faith. Can we make space for difference? Can we hear the voice of God in a language, a sensibility, a culture not our own? (pp. 4-5.)
"I have not hesitated to be radical, and I have deliberately chosen to express that radicalism in religious terms" (p. 17).
"Can I, a Jew, hear the echoes of God's voice in that of a Hindu or Sikh or Christian or Muslim. . . Can I do so and feel not diminished but enlarged? What then becomes of my faith which until then had encompassed the world and must now make space for another faith, another way of interpreting the world?" (pp. 17-18.)
"God has spoken to mankind in many languages: through Judaism to Jews, Christianity to Christians, Islam to Muslims . . . God is God of all humanity, but no single faith is or should be the faith of all humanity." (p. 55, italics in original).
Avraham Burg, פרשת השבוע: בלשון בני אדםParashat ha'Shavua: B'lashon B'nai Adam (The Weekly Torah Portion: Language of People), 2009
The reasoning of Korach offers an alternative theology to that of Moses. Korach proceeds from an assumption that there is an automatic holiness that inheres to the whole community - "all of them are holy." However, automatic sanctity releases responsibility for life and reality from the believer. If "all of them are holy", then every individual from Israel is holy inherently from birth, even the fallen, the evil and the malicous, holiness without review or reflection. The sin of Korach is that of God's choice of this people and of each individual Israelite without revocation, who raises and lifts us above all other humans ... The holiness of Korach is essentially a holiness of of the Jewish race: for all the community, all of them are holy.
Now it is clear why Moses enters into a state of shock [that is, says nothing in response to Korach's claim and falls on his face, Numbers 16:4]. This is the complete opposite of his way and the faith he establishes. Moses' answer is given in an entirely different place in the Torah, in the book of Leviticus in Parashat "K'doshim". The words are very similar, but the use of them is completely different: "Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) ...
Moses' holiness is a holiness that always strengthens the Sisyphean effort to repair oneself and improve the world. This is a holiness that is acquired and not a birthright (i.e. one is born into).