La"G laOmer 5785 | ל"ג לעומר ה'תשפ"ה
Parashath Emor | פרשת אמור
Concerning Leviticus/Vayikrá 24:10-16
There was an incident in the desert where the son of a Hebrew woman and an Egyptian man was rejected from the tents of what he thought was his tribe, Dan. It turns out that this is the precedent for ordinary Jews as well as the tribes of Levi and Yehuda for the father determining the tribe: If the father is not a Jew, the offspring between him and the Jewish mother do not have a tribe. The son turned and blasphemed God, using the Name we don't pronounce, and then, after He was consulted by Moshe, he was punished with death by stoning.
Part of the geula process is the resolving of questions that come up as part of its anticipation. Even though I most likely haven't come up with an answer to the following question, I hope people to whom it applies will begin to think about it.
How do we deal with Jews who have no Jewish fathers with regard to living in the Land?
(A warning to the many, many American Jews (and perhaps among those from other countries as well?) who have non-Jewish fathers, like the one in this Torah portion. Please, don't curse God for your situation. It won't turn out well even if you are not put on trial and sentenced with a bunch of rocks thrown at you until you die. This is what the Talmud and many other books have been all about: Figuring out what to do when we all finally get back together again, with precedents for many, many situations. Even sticky ones like yours.
It's not your fault. It might have turned out differently for ben Shlomit bat Dibri (the young man above), had he prayed and asked for an answer, instead of insulting Him. You have the chance to do better than he. It would be best to start with your Local Orthodox Rabbi. Hopefully, if he doesn't have an answer for you, he might know one or more halachic authorities who have thought about it in advance of the day when it will be urgent to know what to do.)
My perspective (please don't take this thought like halacha, since I am no authority): During the times we've been living in since at least the last century or so, many women seem to have found it challenging just to give birth to Jews, never mind finding a Jewish husband. I have read articles that explain why many Jewish men didn't want to marry a Jewish woman. Either way, problems result that may seem to have no consequence now, but will later on...especially since we are expecting the Great Redemption shortly with God's help, given that all the other times previously have not been witnessed globally, in real time, like the aftermath of the Massacre of October Seventh, 2023. Remember that it was also Simchat Torah 5784, bringing forth a mostly negative global response against the Jews of the Gaza Envelope and the rest of Israel as well, rather than against their attackers, murderers and kidnappers.
The solution to this difficulty would seem to be a challenging one, to say the least. I would like to see it solved so that those who find themselves in that position through no fault of their own would be able to dwell with their people Israel in our Holy Land, even if not among the tribe of their mother. In my experience, those children whose father is Jewish and their mother, not so, can convert, and they will have a tribe and likely would be able to live among their tribe. Even though if their father is a Kohen they will not be able to inherit that part of it, so wouldn't be able to participate as a Kohen, conversion would make them Jewish.
I wish my readers a happy La"G laOmer and Shabbat Shalom!
***
More reading:
Otzma Yehudit MK blames IDF Central Command Chief for murder of pregnant woman Tzeelah Gez (her first name is spelled in many different ways in the various media - HDG) | Holocaust survivor's warning to American Jews must go viral (why isn't the video here? I put this under 'more reading' because the article is still here -HDG) | Jewish Agency chair: Expect 1 million olim due to antisemitism | Neshama notes: According to the Zohar, the entire period of time allotted for Techiyas HaMeisim is between 210-214 years in advance of 6000. WE ARE NOW 215 YEARS NEARER | Israel Unwired: The deep state fears a Jewish victory more than a jihadist enemy | Blast from the past: Who's afraid of the "settlers?" by R' Moshe Levinger, z"l | Vision Mag: Washington's anti-Israel axis |
Video:
Bill Maher crushes the far-left with viral clip about Israel (article here — HDG) | H/T: Inspiration from Zion: This is a Love Story → Nova Massacre Survivor & Eurovision singer Yuval Raphael's Story | Tomer Devorah: 4 videos about Mashiach and Geula | Arabs colonized North Africa & the Middle East...and use "Palestinians" as a battering ram! (Less than 10 min.) | Pulse of Israel: Why is the Gaza war taking so long? Avi Abelow explains. | R' Aryeh Weinstein comments on the video: Brigitte Gabriel Just EXPOSED 1,400 Years of TRUTH (nobody was ready) |
7 comments:
I am no authority either though my limited perspective regarding those with Jewish fathers, echoes yours in that they can also convert in the proper Halachic manner should they want to do so.
IMHO there needs to be some degree of distinction and where necessary leniencies (however minute) in conversion standards possibly under a new post-Geulah Sanhedrin (or competent Rabbinic authorities), between those who are classified as Zera Israel (via a Jewish father) and who are non-Jewish without any apparent Jewish ancestry as opposed to the broad brush approach on matters of conversion.
Perhaps with a grace period since one would not be allowed to convert by that point in the Messianic Era, unless that would only apply to those without any Jewish ancestry in similar manner to the prohibition of male Moabites, etc from converting.
I tried to respond yesterday, Jesterhead, but it seems I didn't succeed in conveying my command to the computer.
So, I appreciate your reply! Before I say anything more, I want to test this comment, to see whether it goes through. If not, then I'll let DBL's group know that I, too, am being blocked.
Hello HDG, just replying to say that can see your 13:20 pm comment.
Thanks for the feedback. I saw the comment, and I'm glad you can see it too. Now for the reply...
I see that having a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father could have a problem that doesn't involve conversion, or the need for it; since we all agree that if a person has a Jewish mother, that person is a Jew. Even if she is a gyoret tzedek, she's a Jew and that's that. Tribal issues have nothing to do with her.
However, we see in the parasha that the tribe also matters, particularly where the father is concerned, and must be taken into consideration when we are all together again, much as we were in the desert more than 3 millennia ago...except that we will be in the Land HaShem gave us. (BTW, I read some articles in VIN today where the main commenters were advocating coming to Eretz Yisrael rather than taking risks in America and elsewhere. Looks like progress to me. Now, the state has to prove its worthiness to be the precursor to the Kingdom. But I digress.)
Since precedent serves, the Land will be divided by tribe, as it was before. What happens to the Gerei Tzedek (righteous male converts) and Jews who don't have a Jewish father (meaning, he may or may not have converted), going back far enough to identify a tribe? It could be that the son of a line going back to a ger tzedek, or even a stam non-Jew, for some generations will get a shock when he finds out he doesn't have a tribe after all. I'm sure daughters will be affected as well.
Will we have land set aside for these people, or will they live among people with a tribe? Will Jews without a tribe be treated the same as gerei tzedek?
Golus has been hard on us, probably harder than we can imagine. I can only hope that this is proof that people who think about issues like these are considered to be among those who anticipated the Geulah Shlemah, may it come swiftly!
It will be Moshiach Ben Dovid who will answer all these questions; they are
not questions for the regular rabbis and government officials. We are
taught that MBD will immediately know when looking at the person from which tribe he descends or any other status he might have and will be able
to answer this person's dilemma. All the questions that we have had
throughout the centuries will be answered by Moshiach Ben Dovid Tzdkeinu!
yiddel
Sounds great, yiddel; may he be revealed shortly, even now, already! Thanks for stopping by. ;-)
An interesting question is being discussed concerning the Washington, DC murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgram (or Milgrim?): How must Jews process their murder, given the circumstances and their backgrounds? It looks complex: Yaron's mother is not a Jew, so he isn't a Jew, but could be mistaken for one; Sarah is a Jew by birth. She accepted Yoshke as messiah, while Yaron was born into a "messianic Jewish" family; and the murderer only saw whatever Jewishness was in them both.
There are probably fewer — if any — halachic questions about them for my article; nevertheless, I find it fitting to summarize it here.
More information can be found at Tomer Devorah and Israel Christian Watch.
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