[Avodah] Gentiles in Torah

[Michael Makovi]

R' Yaakov Weiner speaks of detractors of Torah wishing to assert "'the
culturally developmental origin' of Jewish belief and practice,
following the historical 'trend' of societies becoming more universal
and more pluralistic as they come into contact with and become
dependent on foreign societies.  Every nation on earth began with the
idea of their moral or religious or physical or otherwise superior
status over everyone else."

Rabbi Dr. David Berger in a fantastic article ("Jews, Gentiles, and the Modern
Egalitarian Ethos: Some Tentative Thoughts."  In Formulating Responses
in an Egalitarian Age, ed. by Marc Stern, Lanham, 2005, pp. 83-108.)
makes the point that Medieval authorities did not have to face these
issues, as the gentiles were by and large unremittingly hostile, and
so our authorities then had no impetus to creatively reinterpret
problematically (apparently-)racist texts. Therefore, the question is
not why Rambam did not go with Meiri, but rather we have awe for Meiri
for being so ahead of his time. Beginning with the Christian
Disputations, we realized how our texts would have appeared in the
Christians' eyes, and we reevaluated our position. Even though the
Christians were certainly racist, we realized we were not entirely
innocent either.

Rabbi Eliezer Samson Rosenthal (smiha from Merkaz haRav, posek for
Professor Ephraim Urbach's Movement for Torah Judaism) perhaps agrees
(at (at http://www.lookstein.org/articles/reflections.pdf). In
relatively unclear words (page 10) which I am not sure I understand,
he says that we adopted universal values from the Enlightenment,
because for centuries we cried to the gentiles that we are their
brothers; we cannot now be hypocritical and deny brothership towards
them when they extend it towards us. See also page 17: "Our
relationship to people who are not of the Covenant [i.e., non-Jews]
is, first and foremost, a question of opinion and proper conduct. A
person—including a Torah sage—must determine his understanding of "the
law of persons" before moving on to the halakhot of {saving a gentile
on} the Sabbath, for the latter determination depends on the former,
rather than the other way around. A person must choose in this regard
between two fundamental and comprehensive opinions. On the one hand,
he may adhere to the fundamentalist position, includes nothing
(except, perhaps, for a greater or lesser measure of Jewish
chauvinism, perhaps mystical and certainly archaic) beyond what is
written in the usual halakhic decisional literature, construing its
simple words broadly. Alternatively, he may take the informed and
autonomous position of a man of culture, whose education and
understanding make it clear to him that "this is the book of human
history" [Gen. 5:1] is a great principle from which there is no
ethical or intellectual escape."

R' Weiner says it is difficult to deny some sort of greater love for
Jews by Hashem. The way I have seen it is, all of mankind is His
children; when we err, He still loves us no less, just like any
parent. To be sure, a parent is closer to an obedient well-behaved
child, but this closer relationship does not imply greater love (the
parents out there will please explain and/or correct my words). I've
always thought that Jews cannot be any greater or worthier than
gentiles - for our entire purpose is to uplift them to closeness to
Hashem, and so any lack of worth in them is an equal lack of worth in
us - we cannot be worth more than our given task is! Now, there is a
midrash in Tanna debe Eliyahu that the Jewish people are more beloved
than the Torah, for it is only due to us that the Torah is kept; in
some way, the means is greater than the end if that means is an
indispensable one. If so, then Jews (the means) are greater than the
gentiles (the end), according to this perspective. But I would say
that looked at the ordinary way (that the end is more vital than the
means), Jews can at most be worth as much, but not more than, the
gentiles.

Mikha'el Makovi