THREAD. 1/x

Some more Torah on our absolute obligation to non-citizens, to immigrants, to the vulnerable migrants in our midst.

גר ger can be translated as an alien, a sojourner, an immigrant, a stranger, a non-citizen, and in later Rabbinic thinking, a convert to Judaism.

It made sense that what was the "non-citizen with local power" in the context of having some local sovereignty might become 'a religious convert" in times and places where Diaspora Jews were not in charge--very much not in charge--and didn't have that same institutional power.

Every Orthodox dude who wants to argue that "care for the ger" in the Torah means "converts" has to explain why "for you were gerim in the land of Egypt" is the ending clause of these verses. Doesn't make sense. Israelites were not converts to Egyptian religion. Don't.

Here, it means non-citizen, more or less. In whatever the ancient Near Eastern equivalent of that was, before the modern nation-state. No passports, but these are people who have come a far way away from the place where they have national privilege, networks, language, context.

So, like, we get verses that say stuff like:

"A ger you shall not wrong, and do not oppress them; for you were gerim in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan." (Exodus 22 20-21)

We see widow/orphan/ger bundled together a lot. That's intersectionality, in its own way--people who are uniquely vulnerable in poverty or oppression because of specific other aspects of their identity/experience. Won't say a lot more about that here, but NB.

You can read "don't oppress the ger because you were gerim" is generally read as "because you know all too well what it means to be oppressed; that experience of empathy should inform your building of a just society."

I have a theory about the backstory there, spelled out here, go there if you want: https://twitter.com/TheRaDR/status/1067074763493961728

In any case, that's probably what it meant, tho @aryehlou has suggested maybe it means the opposite--that Egypt welcomed the Israelites when they came down originally in the famine (Joseph's brothers, etc) and that's how we should be when people in need come to us. Intriguing.

Anyway. More texts:

"Should a stranger reside with you in your land, do not wrong them. The stranger shall be with you just like one of your citizens, and you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am God your God."(Leviticus 19:33-34)

This comes just a few verses after "love your neighbor as yourself." The Torah's not sure if you were totally clear that this needs to include the stranger, not just the people of your national identity, so it's spelled out here explicitly.

And your obligation isn't just to love the ger, either. There are three explicit things here.

"Should a stranger reside with you in your land, do not wrong them. The stranger shall be with you just like one of your citizens, and you shall love them as yourself."

1) Do not wrong them.

And don't just not wrong them! But even more than that,

2) THEY SHALL BE WITH YOU JUST AS ONE OF YOUR CITIZENS כְּאֶזְרָח. Tag all your favorite authoritarian heads of state. Just kidding, please don't.

3) Love them.

Three levels, each deeper.

I will note that this is deep in the thick of the Holiness Code, which is itself the center of the center of the center of the Torah, the book's own Holy of Holies. (Google "chiastic structure"--this really is the center.)

"I am God your God."

Now let's jump to Deuteronomy (ch 10, various). There are a bunch of verses here, I'm going to include a chunk here, bear with me:

"And now, Israel, what does God your God demand of you? Only this:

...to revere God your God, to walk only in God’s paths, to love God, and to serve God your God with all your heart and soul, keeping God's commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good....

.. God your God is... the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the orphan and the widow, and loves the ger, providing food and clothing. You too must love the ger, for you were gerim in the land of Egypt." OK?

There are two kinds of mitzvot, we Jews say: between humans and bw humans and God. "Don't steal" -- interpersonal mitzvah. "Keep Shabbat," between humans and God. Dig?

So reread that long Deut section again. Did you catch it? Caring for the non-citizen in our midst is not only one of our most important interpersonal commandments (repeated more than any other commandment in Torah), but maybe it's also commandment between humans and God.

"God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, but upholds the cause of the orphan and the widow, and loves the ger" Part of God's nature, part of the true essence of God is loving the stranger--not in some vague universal way, but in the specificity of their vulnerable situation.

Who God is is loving the ger. The sojourner, the non-citizen, the vulnerable immigrant who has left their home and now has come to find refuge and safety with us.

It's who we are obligated to be, as well.