Giyyur 005

26:
So far we have examined the manner in which the sages related to converts of various kinds and various motivations. We have seen that the sages of the Talmudic era were very generous in their expectations and very lenient in their requirements. Before we leave this part of our discussion we should look at one passage in the Talmud which is most illustrative of this tendency of the sages. Let us first of all present the passage itself and afterwards offer the explanations that it requires.

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The passage is to be found in the Gemara [Sanhedrin 99b]:

28:
One of the most recondite (and boring!) chapters in the Torah is Genesis 36. Before the Torah goes on to describe in detail what happened to Jacob after he arrived back in Eretz-Israel from his sojourn with Laban, the story of Joseph and how the Israelites came to be in Egypt, the Torah dedicates one chapter for a resumé of the life of Jacob's twin brother Esau and his descendents. Like his brother, Esau had twelve sons who became the eponymous progenitors of the twelve tribes of the Edomites. Esau's eldest son is named Elifaz. Later in the chapter [verse 20] we are introduced briefly to one of the Chiefs of Edom, a certain Lotan; and later [verse 22] we are told that he had a sister named Timna. We have already been told in this same chapter [verse 12] that Timna was the concubine of Elifaz. Here is the information in brief:

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In the Gemara, just before the passage we quoted above, one of the sages mentions Menasheh, King of Judah. This Menasheh – not to be confused with Joseph's son and Ephraim's brother – was the son of good king Hezekiah, but he is mentioned in the Book of Kings as being one of the most wicked of the kings of Judah. Chapter 21 of the 2nd book of Kings carefully lists the outrages of Menasheh, but the sages, of course, imagined the wickedness King Menasheh as being connected with Torah study. They tell us that his favourite pastime was to point out what was wrong with the way the Torah was written: Moses should not have written passages such as "and Lotan's sister was Timna" and "Timna was the concubine of Elifaz" – because this information is irrelevant to the story and is also scurrillous. According to the Gemara the king is excoriated by a Bat Kol from heaven. However, the editor of the Gemara subsequently says, "However, since we have mentioned Timna?" – meaning, since the issue has been raised – what purpose can we ascribe to this information recorded in the Torah. The question of the editor is answered by the midrashic passage that we have quoted above.

30:
The midrash reminds us that since the Torah says that Timna was the sister of the Edomite Chief Lotan this means that she was a princess, because the term 'chief' [aluf] indicates a king who does not wear a crown. This Timna wants to belong to Israel, so she applies to the greatest Bat Din there could ever have been and the three dayyanim are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Such a Bet Din is possible only in a midrash, since such closely related people as father, son and grandson would halalkhically constitute an invald court.) However, the Bet Din rejected her candidacy for conversion. No reason is given because that is irrelevant to the story.

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Dismayed or undismayed, Timna is determined somehow to become part of this people. If she cannot become part of Jacob's branch of Abraham's descendents there is another way! Esau is just as much a grandson of Abraham as is Jacob. He is just as much a son of Isaac as is Jacob. So, Timna becomes the concubine of Esau's son Elifaz. According to the sages a concubine was a kind of wife: a spouse who was prepared to live with a man without the protection of a marriage ceremony and the monetary provisions of a Ketubbah, a marriage in which the woman cedes place to all her husband's 'legitimate' wives. She is thus a kind of handmaid or maidservent in the family entourage who, from time to time, shares her husband's bed.

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Thus, Timna was so determined to attach herself to the people of Abraham and Isaac that she was prepared to forgo her royal status and become the lowly concubine of the grandson of Isaac and Rebecca, Elifaz. The Torah [Genesis 36:12] tells us that from the union of Elifaz and Timna was born Amalek. As we know, the descendents of this same Amalek were to become the sworn enemies of Israel throught all generations. The Gemara presents this fact as an indication of divine retribution: because Abraham's Bet Din refused to convert a sincere candidate their descendents would be tormented by her descendents, because "they should not have rejected her". Dire consequences can follow upon the rejection of a candidate for conversion since no human being can fathom the innermost motivations of another human being.

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Thus we see that the sages knew intimately every possible kind of convert: there were those whose attachment to Judaism and the Jewish people was motivated by deep inner conviction; and there were those whose embrace of the people of Israel and their Torah was motivated by a self-serving impulse that was as ulterior as they come. Yet once these converts had undergone the halakhic process of conversion, regardless of their inner motivation, the sages were adamant that "they are all converts". In our next shiur we shall, God willing, turn our attention to the "halakhic process" of conversion as set down by the sages.

To be continued.

In Giyyur 003 I wrote: even if the woman in the mishnah converts for the ulterior motive of marrying a Jew her conversion is nevertheless valid. Meir Stone asks:

Has there ever been a Masorti ruling if a person could convert to Judaism if his spouse wishes to stay a non-Jew? Would it make a difference if the couple could not have children?

I respond:

Even though Meir asks specifically about a Masorti ruling let me start with regards to Conservative Judaism outside Israel. The Conservative rabbinate is torn between two great desires. There is the desire to effect the conversion of everyone who can and does meet the required standards. This can have meaning not only for the candidate but, if she is a woman, for her offspring as well. However, do we really want to create an intermarriage by our own actions? Experience teaches that such intermarriages are not usually successful from the Jewish point of view.

However, in Israel the situation is different. Most of the candidates for conversion are already attached to a Jew. However, there are cases where, for instance, a couple comes to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Neither the woman nor her husband are halakhically Jewish. She wants to convert be he shows no interest in religion at all. A Masorti Bet Din will convert the woman (and her children) because the surrounding influences will conquer the husband's apathy and indifference.

Glenn Farber writes:

The berayta cited in Part 1 (Giyyur 003) outlines the unacceptable rationales for conversion (for the sake of marriage, to join up with the powerful nation, to avoid punishment or retribution). You keep using the term "altruism" to represent preferable or "purer" motivations, but is that really what you mean? By definition, that would refer to someone who converts out of concern for others, even (or even especially) if it carries negative consequences for himself. I would think that would be a suspect motive, if the potential ger did not see the value to himself — such as spiritual enlightenment, the desire to participate in the mission of the Jewish people, the opportunity for d'vekut (coming closer to God), or other self-interested motivations. It would seem worthwhile to also examine the rationales which are specifically acceptable or preferred.

I respond:

Firstly, please note that in the barayta it is Rabbi Neĥemyah who espouses the 'unacceptable rationales for conversion' and his view is rejected in favour of the view of Rav that 'all are converts'. But now to Glenn's major point. I think Glenn has here a valid objection. I think it was the Irish philosopher-playwright George Bernard Shaw who once quipped that "the British and the Americans are one people divided by a common language". In an American dictionary we will find that altruistic behaviour describes behaviour that is motivated by the welfare and needs of others. As such it is clearly most inappropriate to describe the motivations of a would-be convert. In British usage however, rightly or wrongly, altruism is often seen as the antonym of 'ulterior motivation'. I should have been more careful. So, where I have described converts as being altruistic please understand that the intention is for converts who have no ulterior motivation, who wish to become Jews because of their pure desire to be a part of the religion of Israel and the people of Israel.