Strangers

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Remembering Our Own Strangeness

TANAKH

The moral obligation to treat strangers with kindness and empathy originates from the Israelites' historical experience as strangers in Egypt. The Torah commands them to treat strangers with fairness and compassion, recalling their own past as foreigners in Egypt.

You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 22:20

Welcoming the Kind Stranger

MIDRASH

Recognizing and rewarding the kindness of strangers can lead to meaningful relationships and integration into the broader community. Louis Ginzberg’s early 20th-century compilation, Legends of the Jews, recounts the story of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, and his proactive hospitality towards Moses.

Jethro was not a little amazed to see his daughters return so soon from the watering troughs. As a rule, the chicanery they had to suffer from the shepherds detained them until late. No sooner had he heard their report about the wonder-working Egyptian than he exclaimed, "Mayhap he is one of the descendants of Abraham, from whom issueth blessing for the whole world." He rebuked his daughters for not having invited the stranger that had done them so valuable a service to come into their house, and he ordered them to fetch him, in the hope that he would take one of his daughters to wife.

Legends of the Jews 2:4:127

God's Revelation to Strangers

JEWISH THOUGHT

By answering the prayer of the stranger, God reveals Himself as the one true Elohim to all peoples, making it possible for them to become His people. Eliezer Berkovits explores the universal recognition of God's sovereignty, drawing parallels to the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel.

By seeing the prayer of the stranger, “not of Thy people Israel,” answered, all the peoples of the earth will know that Y He is also Elohim and there is none else beside Him. The idea is the same as in the story of Elijah. By “answering” Y reveals that he is the Elohim. Certainly, if all the peoples of the earth are to fear God as his people Israel, then they too must become his people. This, however, is only possible if, to them too, Y is revealed as being one and the same as the Elohim.

Man and God, Chapter 1 the Knowledge of God 84

Nuances in Justice for Resident Aliens

TALMUD

The treatment of a ger toshav (resident alien) who commits manslaughter varies based on the victim's status, revealing a nuanced legal differentiation. The Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Makkot explores the legal intricacies of cities of refuge for inadvertent murderers, including resident aliens.

There are those who raised a contradiction between two verses. It is written: “For the children of Israel and for the stranger and for the resident [velatoshav] among them, shall these six cities be for refuge” (Numbers 35:15), indicating that a ger toshav is exiled. And it is written in a previous verse: “And the cities shall be for you for refuge” (Numbers 35:12), from which it is inferred: A refuge for you but not for a ger toshav, indicating that a ger toshav is not exiled…

Makkot 9a:3

Leadership and the Stranger

JEWISH THOUGHT

Leaders have a unique responsibility to recognize and address the alienation of strangers, ensuring their reintegration into the community. This text from the Book of Numbers highlights the high priest's duty to assist and reintegrate marginalized individuals, such as lepers.

The Leader and the Stranger
What role does the leader have in relation to the stranger? Is there a way in which the leader must act in relation to the stranger? We have just seen that Moses’ lack of connection to people or place offered him a unique stance in the world to assist others in their search for place. Paradoxically, only one who suffers alienation can recognize it and create salvation from it for others. It was the priest in the Bible who diagnosed the leper and set him outside the camp, and it was the high priest who ushered the leper back into the camp…

Leadership in the Wilderness; Authority and Anarchy in the Book of Numbers, Part I, Chapter 5; Leaders and Strangers 39

Esteemed Strangers

MIDRASH

The divine recognition of righteous strangers (proselytes) underscores their esteemed spiritual status alongside other revered groups. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, an early halachic midrash on Exodus, elaborates on the inclusion and esteem of various groups in the eyes of God.

And thus do you find (the L–rd's esteem for the stranger-proselyte) in the four classes who respond before Him who spoke and brought the world into being, (Isaiah 44:5) "One shall say: 'I am the L–rd's'; another shall call in the name of Yaakov; another shall mark his arm 'of the L–rd'; and in the name of Israel he shall be called": "I am the L–rd's" — these are the fearers of Heaven, untainted by sin. "another shall call in the name of Yaakov" — these are the minors (who died in childhood), the sons of the wicked in Israel. "another shall mark his arm 'of the L–rd'" — these are the penitents…

Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Nezikin 18:9

Abraham's Exemplary Hospitality

SECOND TEMPLE

Abraham's immediate and generous hospitality towards strangers is a model of kindness and virtue. Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, recounts the biblical story of Abraham welcoming three angels, emphasizing the importance of hospitality in Jewish tradition.

2. When God had thus resolved concerning the Sodomites, Abraham, as he sat by the oak of Mambre, at the door of his tent, saw three angels; and thinking them to be strangers, he rose up, and saluted them, and desired they would accept of an entertainment, and abide with him; to which, when they agreed, he ordered cakes of meal to be made presently; and when he had slain a calf, he roasted it, and brought it to them, as they sat under the oak. Now they made a show of eating; and besides, they asked him about his wife Sarah, where she was…

The Antiquities of the Jews 1:11:2

Strangers in the Chosen Land

COMMENTARY

Jacob and his descendants chose to dwell as strangers in the Promised Land, fulfilling God's promise to Abraham. Ramban, a 13th-century Spanish scholar, contrasts Jacob’s temporary dwelling in the land with Esau’s permanent possession of his territory.

AND JACOB DWELT IN THE LAND OF HIS FATHERS. The meaning of the verse is that since Scripture had said that the chiefs of Esau dwelt in the land of their possessions — that is to say, the land which they took to themselves as a possession forever — it now says that Jacob, however, dwelt as his father had, as a stranger in a land which was not their own but which belonged to the Canaanites. The purport is to relate that they elected to dwell in the Chosen Land, and that G-d’s words to Abraham, That thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs…

Ramban on Genesis 37:1:1

Cities of Refuge: Equal Protection in Torah Law

TANAKH

The Torah ensures equal protection and justice for both Israelites and resident aliens who have unintentionally killed someone. In the book of Numbers, six cities of refuge are established to provide a safe haven for such individuals.

These six cities shall serve the Israelites and the resident aliens among them for refuge, so that any man who slays a person unintentionally may flee there.

Numbers 35:15

Loving the Stranger

COMMENTARY

The Jewish commandment to love the stranger is rooted in the historical experience of being strangers in Egypt, making it a uniquely demanding moral principle. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the centrality of love in Jewish ethics, emphasizing the commandment to love the stranger as a foundational principle.

Judaism was the first moral system to place interpersonal love at the centre of the moral life: love of God “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5), love of “your neighbour as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), and love of the stranger because “you know what it feels like to be a stranger” (Ex. 23:9). This was later adopted by Christianity and remains a distinctive element of the Judaeo-Christian ethic. All moral systems have at their heart a principle of justice, or reciprocal altruism: do as you would be done by. But love is something different and more demanding.

Essays in Ethics; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Introduction; Seven Features of Jewish Ethics 42

Man as a Stranger in the World

MUSAR

The metaphor of man as a stranger in the world underscores the transient nature of human existence and our reliance on the Creator. The 15th-century ethical work, Orchot Tzadikim, offers profound insights into moral and ethical behavior, emphasizing humility, kindness, and devotion to God.

The thirtieth thing a person should remember is that if a man came to a foreign land where he knew no one, and no one knew him, and the master of the country had pity upon him and gave him food every day but warned him not to rebel against him and not to transgress his commandments, and informed him that he would receive a good reward for his service, and warned him concerning his return journey, but did not let him know the time of it — in truth, this servant surely ought to be submissive, abandon haughtiness and search out how to do the king's will…

Orchot Tzadikim 19:35

Ruth's Prophetic Kindness

TARGUM

The prohibition against intermarriage with Moabites applied only to the men, not the women, and Ruth's conversion and kindness foretold the rise of kings and prophets from her lineage. The Aramaic Targum to Ruth offers an expanded narrative and interpretation of Ruth's story, emphasizing her loyalty and the prophetic significance of her actions.

Boaz replied thus: "It has been told to me on the authority of the sages, that when the Lord decreed [against intermarriage with Moab], He did not decree against the women, but against the men. Through prophecy I have been informed that kings and prophets are destined to descend from you, because of the kindness which you have shown your mother-in-law, in that you supported her after your husband died, and you left your gods and your people, your father and your mother and the land of your birth…

Aramaic Targum to Ruth 2:11

The Duty of Hospitality

KABBALAH

Abraham's practice of escorting guests, even when he knew they were angels, underscores the fundamental duty of proper hospitality towards strangers. The Zohar, a central work of Jewish mysticism, delves into the mystical aspects of the Torah and highlights the importance of accompanying and escorting guests.

AND ABRAHAM WENT WITH THEM TO BRING THEM ON THE WAY; that is, to escort them. R. Yesa said: ‘This shows that Abraham was not aware that they were angels; for if he was, what need had he to see them off?’ ‘No,’ answered R. Eleazar; ‘although he knew, he kept to his usual custom with them, and saw them off. For it is highly incumbent on a man to escort a departing guest, for this crowns the good act.

Zohar, Vayera 10:174

The Exclusivity of the Paschal Sacrifice

HALAKHAH

The Torah explicitly prohibits feeding the meat of the Paschal sacrifice to a resident alien, emphasizing the exclusivity of this ritual to the Jewish community. In his monumental 12th-century legal code, the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides elaborates on the laws of the Paschal sacrifice, including the prohibition against sharing it with non-Jews.

Not to feed the meat of the Paschal sacrifice to a resident alien, as [Exodus 12:45] states: "No temporary resident or hired worker may eat from it."

Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot 126

A Stranger's Request for a Burial Site

TANAKH

Abraham's request to purchase a burial site for his wife Sarah highlights the practical and immediate concern for respect and dignity in death. In the book of Genesis, Abraham negotiates with the Hittites to secure a burial plot, reflecting his status as a 'resident alien' in their land.

“I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.”

Genesis 23:4

Equality Before the Law

GUIDES

The Torah underscores that both strangers and native-born individuals within the same country are subject to the same laws, highlighting the principle of justice and equality. This verse from Leviticus 24:22 is foundational in Jewish legal tradition and is frequently cited in discussions about justice and fairness.

You shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 24:22)

Introductions to the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, Introduction to Perek IV 1

Naomi sends away her daughters-in-law: Orpah returns home, Ruth stays. Amsterdam, 1579 and/or 1646

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