Giyyur 017

(For the Hebrew text of this passage please click here.)

25:
Of course, not all the sages looked with undiluted pleasure on the arrival of a new Jew by choice into the fold. It must have been very frustrating and very disappointing when a new Jew turned out to be less than enthusiastic in his or her observance of the minutiae of the mitzvot. Perhaps the most incisively negative comment that we have from a sage of the Talmudic era is the one attributed to Rabbi Ĥelbo. Rabbi Ĥelbo was born and educated in Babylon, but later on he went on Aliya to Eretz-Israel. Therefore, although he is a direct student of Rav Huna, the head of the Babylonian Yeshiva in Sura, he is considered to be an Amora of Eretz-Israel. His statement about converts is found in the Gemara [Yevamot 47b]:

That this succinct phrase is intended to be epigrammatic is indicated by the prooftext that Rabbi Ĥelbo brings. The Hebrew word that he uses for 'scab' is sappaĥat. (The word is found with this meaning in the Torah [Leviticus 13:2].) The basic meaning of the root is to indicate something that adheres – as does a scab to the healing skin. However, Rabbi Ĥelbo brings as his prooftext a verse [Isaiah 14:1] where the word has its primary meaning of 'adhere':

Thus Rabbi Ĥelbo associates the ger both with the denigratory term 'scab' and the concept of 'adhering' to the people of Israel – rather than blending into the body politic.

26:
Another teaching which is denigratory towards converts is attributed in the Gemara [Yevamot 109b] to Rabbi Yitzĥak:

27:
The commentators on this part of the Gemara have a field day. Rashi explains that converts are 'problematic for Israel'

Rashi tries to shift the burden of the 'problem' from the converts to those born Jewish. The convert is not always well-versed in the niceties of Torah law; he does his best to observe the mitzvot according to the learning that he has amassed so far. But those born Jewish admire the converts and take them as examples of good halakhic behaviour! Thus, according to Rashi, the well-intentioned convert is a problem for the ignorant Jews: the errors of the convert can be ascribed to what he has not yet been able to learn; that a Jew should learn from these errors is to be ascribed to his laziness or ignorance.

28:
The Tosafists take a different tack. (You can learn about the Tosafists in Avodah Zarah 008.) They say that "trouble after trouble" comes upon those who accept converts

The Tosafists go on also to quote the incident that we studied in Giyyur 008 where Hillel shows great leniency when he accepts a non-Jew who hoped to become High Priest.

29:
The Tosafists were a school of post-Talmudic thought and their work was spread over two centuries; so it is not surprising that in their commentary we find differing explanations. Their comment on the teaching of Rabbi Ĥelbo in Yevamot 47b (see above) reads as follows:

This alludes to the teaching [Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 7:14] that at Sinai our ancestors accepted a general responsibility for Torah observance – each one taking responsibility for his family, friends and neighbours, and for his decsendents in perpetuum. If each Jew stands security for every other Jew's good behaviour according to Torah, the convert who, of necessity, must be less learned regarding what is expected of him or her constitutes a problem for 'all Israel' who stand security for them as well. (However, the Tosafists do add a rider – derived from Sotah 37b – that the Israelites at Sinai explicitly excluded future converts from the undertaking!)

To be continued.

The festival of Sukkot begins tonight. Let me wish everybody Ĥag Samé'aĥ – a joyous festival. "Just be happy!" [Deuteronomy 16:15]

The Virtual Bet Midrash is now going on its traditional break for the holiday. The next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on October 27th.