Bamidbar - Cosmic Conversions

B"H

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Oops - this was partially written before Shavuot. Unfortunately due to work commitments I wasn't able to get it finalised until now...also, thanks once again to D.S. for late-night grammatical assistance ;-)

Sources:

1) Midrash Tanchuma Bamidbar, Chapter 3 (extract)

אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, אלו היו יודעין אומות העולם מה בית המקדש יפה להם, קסטוריות היו מקיפין אותו כדי לשמרו, שהיה יפה להם יותר ממה שהיה יפה לישראל. שכך שלמה סידר בתפלתו, וגם אל הנכרי אשר לא מעמך ישראל הוא, (ו) אתה תשמע השמים וגו' ועשית ככל אשר יקרא אליך הנכרי (מ"א ח מא-מג). אבל כשבא אצל ישראל, מה כתיב, ונתת לאיש ככל דרכיו אשר תדע את לבבו (דה"ב ו ל). אמר שלמה, רבון העולמים, אם הוא ראוי, תן לו. ואם אינו ראוי, אל תתן לו. ולא תאמר בית המקדש בלבד היה יפה להם, אלא אלולי ישראל, לא היה מטר יורד לעולם, ולא השמש זורחת, שבזכותן המטר יורד, והקדוש ברוך הוא מזריח בעולם הזה, ולעתיד, אומות העולם רואין היאך הקדוש ברוך הוא מתדבק עם ישראל. והם באים להדבק בהם, שנאמר, נלכה עמכם כי שמענו אלהים עמכם (זכריה ח כג):

2) Midrash Tanchuma Bechukotai, Chapter 2 (extract)

. אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, אלו היו יודעין האומות שבשביל עונות ישראל הם לוקין, היו מעמידין להם שני איסטרטיוטין לכל אחד ואחד מישראל, כדי שישמרו את התורה ושלא יחטאו. ולא דיין שאין האומות משמרין את ישראל, אלא עוד הן מבטלין אותן מן המצות. שאם יחטאו, כל העולם לוקה, שנאמר, על כן עליכם כלאו שמים מטל. ואם אינם חוטאין, כל העולם מתברך בשבילם, שנאמר, והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ (ברא' כו ד).

3) Zechariah 8:23

כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת בַּיָּמִים הָהֵמָּה אֲשֶׁר יַחֲזִיקוּ עֲשָׂרָה אֲנָשִׁים מִכֹּל לְשֹׁנוֹת הַגּוֹיִם וְהֶחֱזִיקוּ בִּכְנַף אִישׁ יְהוּדִי לֵאמֹר נֵלְכָה עִמָּכֶם כִּי שָׁמַעְנוּ אֱלֹהִים עִמָּכֶם.

4) Ruth 1:14

וַתִּשֶּׂנָה קוֹלָן וַתִּבְכֶּינָה עוֹד וַתִּשַּׁק עָרְפָּה לַחֲמוֹתָהּ וְרוּת דָּבְקָה בָּהּ

5) Ruth 3:9

וַיֹּאמֶר מִי-אָתְּ וַתֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי רוּת אֲמָתֶךָ וּפָרַשְׂתָּ כְנָפֶךָ עַל-אֲמָתְךָ כִּי גֹאֵל אָתָּה

6) Shemot 18:1

וַיִּשְׁמַע יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים לְמֹשֶׁה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ  כִּי-הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶת-יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם.

Who are we? What does it mean to be Jewish, to be 'chosen' by G-d as a 'goy kadosh' seperate from other peoples, and how should this affect how we live our lives? These are the hardest questions facing us as a people today - but sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the fact that our own inner uncertainty also has implications for how the non-Jewish world views our role in the world. As one anonymous commentator remarked (admittedly tongue-in-cheek) after watching Israel's latest Eurovision offering last week, 'is this really what G-d chose His people for?'

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, one of the Amoraim and an important figure in aggadic (homiletical) literature is cited two weeks running by the Midrash Tanchuma with a fascinating insight into our role in the world. He first appears in a midrash on parshat Bechukotai (source 2) above) observing that if the non-Jewish nations were fully aware that they suffer when the Jews sin, they would assign every Jew two soldiers to make sure they observe the Torah and prevent them from sinning - however, not only do the surrounding nations not do this, but they even seek to prevent us from doing mitzvot!

A similar midrash featuring Rabbi Yehoshua appears for parshat Bamidbar (source 1) above) - here, the focus is on the nations failure to realise the positive influence of both the Beit HaMikdash and the Jewish people upon the wider world. In the case of the Beit HaMikdash, the benefit comes from the fact that in accordance with Shlomo ha-melech (King Solomon)'s prayer that 'v'gam el hanachri asher me'amecha Israel hu...u'va v'hitpalel el habayit hazeh, atah tishma hashamayim...v'asita k'chol asher yikra elecha hanachri' - 'and even the stranger who is not from your people Israel...who comes and prays at [the Beit HaMikdash], may You listen from the heavens...and act in accordance with everything that the stranger calls out to you'. In other words, the non-Jew's prayer is guaranteed a favourable response - unlike the prayer of the Jew, which Shlomo ha-melech asks G-d to respond to depending on whether or not the Jew praying is 'ra'u' (worthy) of having his prayers fulfilled.

However, Rabbi Yehoshua is at pains to point out here that it is not only the Beit HaMikdash but the Jewish people who is of benefit to the wider world. While he only justifies this with proof-texts in the earlier midrash from Bechukotai, in both cases this benefit is expressed in terms of fertility and G-d controlling the right weather conditions of rain/dew/sun according to the 'z'chut' (merit) of the Jewish people (source 1) and whether or not they sin (source 2). Rabbi Yehoshua therefore sees the Jewish people as having a cosmic significance whereby the wellbeing of the entire world is dependent upon both our mere existence and whether or not we live up to our purpose of observing the Torah. Quite a role to fill!

And if this wasn't enough, the midrash for parshat Bamidbar goes even further to say that:

v'le'atid, umot ha'olam ro'im heyach HaKadosh Baruch Hu mitdabek im Yisrael v'hem ba'im l'hidavek ba'hem, she'ne'emar 'nelchah imachem ki shama'anu elokim imachem' - 'in the future, the peoples of the world will see how the Holy One, Blessed be He attaches Himself together with Israel and they will come to attach themselves to them, as it is said 'We will go with you for we have heard that G-d is with you' (Zecharya 8:23)

In the spirit of Shavuot, I would argue that this midrash implies that the non-Jewish nations will ultimately convert and become part of the Jewish people in the future. How so? Well, in both its choice of language to describe both G-d and the nations as mitdabkim (attaching themselves) to the Jews and its use of the proof-text from Zecharya, the midrash alludes to two famous gerim who play a role at Shavuot - Ruth and Yitro.* Sefer Ruth describes how Ruth 'davka' (clung) to her mother-in-law Naomi at the crucial moment when she refuses to leave and declares her commitment to Naomi and the Jewish people (see source 4)), while in an echo of the nations statement that they have 'heard that G-d is with you' Yitro comes to visit Moshe (and, according to many commentators, to convert) after 'hearing' how G-d has taken the Jews out of Egypt (see source 6). Even more intriguingly, a parallel could perhaps be drawn between the two occasions on which Ruth is mentioned as coming under G-d's/Boaz's 'kanfei/kanaf' wings/cloak respectively), and the full p'sak from which our midrash's proof-text is taken (see source 3) in which ten men from each nation will take hold of the 'kanaf' of a Jew before saying 'nelchah imachem...'

While the idea of the whole world becoming Jewish may seem rather far-fetched, today we can see people from across the world expressing an interest in gerut with some being prepared to move countries and even continents in pursuit of their goal. However, at the same time gerim and the process of gerut has become one of the most political and hotly contested issues in the Jewish community, mostly because it goes to the heart of Jewish identity and our opening questions of what it means to be Jewish.

Unfortunately most of the problems surrounding gerut today can be traced back to the fact that being Torah-observant - or at the very least acknowledging the centrality of the Torah and our status as G-d's 'chosen people' - are no longer synonymous with being Jewish. While Rabbi Yehoshua laments the fact that the non-Jewish nations fail to recognise how their well-being is dependent upon the Jews, today it is we ourselves as a people who have lost sight of our purpose in this world. Perhaps it is only when we rediscover this that all gerim will be able to join our ranks as 'gerei tzeddek' (righteous/sincere converts) and the rest of the world will no longer need to question what G-d has 'chosen' us for.


Very belated chag sameach/shavua tov/early shabbat shalom!

RPT


* as far as I know this is a bit of a chiddush on my part, but if any commentators have picked up on this before please let me know!