Part 1: Tanach
The mitzvah to love the stranger is one of the most well-known, and frequently repeated, mitzvot in the Torah. Perhaps its frequent mention is partially a result of the Torah's recognition of the challenge of loving the stranger dwelling in your land. As we explore a few sources in the Hebrew Bible discussing this mitzvah, consider the competing values that are in tension within the mitzvah of loving the stranger.
If a stranger lives among you in your land, you shall not treat him poorly. The stranger that lives among you shall be like a native-born person, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
(2) Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “I would like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone who may show me kindness.” “Yes, daughter, go,” she replied; (3) and off she went. She came and gleaned in a field, behind the reapers; and, as luck would have it, it was the piece of land belonging to Boaz, who was of Elimelech’s family... (5) Boaz said to the servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose girl is that?” (6) The servant in charge of the reapers replied, “She is a Moabite girl who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. (7) She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers’ and has been on her feet ever since she came this morning, hardly taking any rest except for a brief break in the hut."
Questions:
1) Why do you think the servant mentions Ruth's ethnic background and work ethic?
2) Assuming that this is intended as a critique of Ruth, what might be motivating the servant's critique of her actions and her background?
(47) If a resident alien among you has prospered, and your kinsman being in straits, comes under his authority and gives himself over to the resident alien among you, or to an offshoot of an alien’s family, (48) he shall have the right of redemption even after he has given himself over. One of his kinsmen shall redeem him,
תורת כהנים, בהר, פרש' ו' פרק ח'
וכי תשיג יד גר ותושב עמך מי גרם לזה
שיעשיר דיבוקו עמך ומך אחיך עמו. מי גרם לזה שיעני? דיבוקך עמו
Midrash Torat Kohanim, Behar, 6:8
“And if a stranger who is a settler with you has gotten rich...” What caused them to grow rich? Their attachment to you.
“and your brother has become poor...” What caused your brother to become poor?
His/your attachment to the stranger.
Questions
1) Do you think this Midrash from Torat Kohanim contradicts the Torah's ideal of welcoming the stranger?
2) What do you think motivates the Torat Kohanim's apparently inhospitable stance?
Part 2: Halachic Sources
The rabbis of our tradition faced the difficult task of applying the Torah's demand of loving the stranger to a nation concerned about their own well-being. The task of applying the Torah's statutes to real-life situations is never a simple process. As you read through these sources, consider what might be motivating the different poskim (legal decisors) to fall out on different sides of this issue.
אמר רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע פשיטא לי בר מתא אבר מתא אחריתי מצי מעכב ואי שייך בכרגא דהכא לא מצי מעכב
Rav Huna the son of Rav Yehoshua said: It is quite clear to me that the residents of one town can prevent the resident of another town from setting up in competition in this town, but not, however, if he pays taxes to the town where his new business is; and that the resident of an alley cannot prevent another resident of the same alley from setting up in competition in his alley.
מרדכי מסכת בבא בתרא פרק לא יחפור רמז תקיזק
בר מתא אבר מתא אחריתי מצי מעכב ואי
כתב אביאסף ...ולהכי נהגו לגזור הקדמונים חרם על ישוב שע"י חרם כופין ולא מן הדין כדפרישית
Mordechai, ad loc, sect 517
“The citizen of a city can prevent the citizen of another city from immigrating to their city, but if they pay taxes they can’t prevent them...”... And this is why early [authorities] needed to excommunicate people who settled in a place, because they had no official legal mechanism to prevent people from immigrating other than to decree that any person who immigrates will not be accepted as part of the community.
Questions:
1) The Mordechai mentions extra-legal mechanisms by which communal authorities prevented economic migrants from coming to their communities. Do you think this is fair?
2) On what basis do you belief they justified these actions?
שאלה לא"א הרא"ש ז"ל יהודי שרוצה ללכת לכפר לדור שם להרויח וא"ל אנשי רותו כפר קמפסדת לחיותינו ורוצים להרחיקו מעל גבולם. תשובה אין יכולין למנעו דלא קאמר תלמודא אלא אדם הדר בעיר הזאת ובא להעמיד רחיים או חנות במקום אחר ואינו שייך במס שלהם יכולן בני אותה העיר לעכב עליו אבל דבר פשוט הוא שאדם יכול לגור בכל מקום שירצה ואין בני העיר יכולין לעכב עליו וכי קנו אותו הראשונים בחזקה:
A question to my lord and father the Rosh: A Jew who wants to go to a town to live there to earn money. And the people of the town say, “You are decreasing our livelihood,” and wish to distance him from their border. Answer: They cannot prevent them for the Talmud only talks about a person who lives in a different town and is coming to set up a mill or a store in a different place and they are not included in their tax, the citizens of that town can prevent them, but it is an obvious thing that a person can live wherever they want and the citizens of the town cannot prevent them, for did the original settlers acquire the land through legal acquisition?
בית יוסף שם
מהרי"ק בשורש (קצ"ד) [קצ"א] האריך מאד בדינים אלו וכתב שזה שכתב הרא"ש
בתשובה שאדם יכול לדור בכל מקום ואין בני העיר יכולים לעכב עליו שירצה פשיטא שרוצה לומר שאין בני העיר יכולים לעכב עליו על פי בית דין אבל אם תגבר יד בני העיר לסגור דשא באפיה הן על ידי השר הן על ידי שום מונע פשיטא שהרשות בידם ולא יחלוק על זה כי אם העיקש והפתלתול אשר לא ידע ולא יבין ולא הגיע עד כאן לשונו.
Beit Yosef on the Previous Source
The Mahari”k, in ch. 191 extensively discusses these rulings and writes answers like the Rosh, that a person can live wherever he wants and the citizens of the town cannot prevent him. It is obvious that he meant to say that the citizens cannot prevent them by way of Beit Din, but if they are able to close the door in their face whether by way of the secular authorities or by way of any block, it is obvious that they have that option. And the only person who would disagree with this must be stubborn and twisted, uncomprehending and unfit to rule.
Questions
1) Is it fair to rely on sources of authority outside of the Beit Din to resolve communal problems?
2) What values do you believe are motivating the Beit Yosef's strongly worded position?
3) Do you think that these values are still relevant in our time?
ת"ר אנשי סדום לא נתגאו אלא בשביל טובה שהשפיע להם הקב"ה...אמרו וכי מאחר שארץ ממנה יצא לחם ועפרות זהב לו למה לנו עוברי דרכים שאין באים אלינו אלא לחסרינו [מממוננו] בואו ונשכח תורת רגל מארצנו שנאמר (איוב כח, ד) פרץ נחל מעם גר הנשכחים
The Sages taught: The people of Sodom became haughty and sinned due only to the excessive goodness that the Holy One, Blessed be He, bestowed upon them...The people of Sodom said: Since we live in a land from which bread comes and has the dust of gold, we have everything that we need. Why do we need travelers, as they come only to divest us of our property? Come, let us cause the proper treatment of travelers to be forgotten from our land, as it is stated: “He breaks open a watercourse in a place far from inhabitants, forgotten by pedestrians, they are dried up, they have moved away from men” (Job 28:4)...