The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly Provides Guidance in Matters of Halakhah for the Conservative Movement
Whether one is an Israelite or a Gentile, a man or a woman, a slave or maidservant, whoever does a mitzvah is rewarded for it. Yalkut Shimoni Lekh Lekha 76 The Status of Non-Jews in Jewish Law and Lore Today Rabbi Reuven Hammer This teshuvah was unanimously approved on April 21, 2016 (19-0-0). Voting in Favor: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Pamela Barmash, Miriam Berkowitz, Noah Bickart, David Booth, Elliot Dorff, Baruch Frydman- Kohl, Reuven Hammer, Joshua Heller, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Jane Kanarek, Gail Labovitz, Amy Levin, Jonathan Lubliner, Daniel Nevins, Micah Peltz, Paul Plotkin, Elie Spitz, and Jay Stein. Questions: What is the status of Gentiles in Jewish Law today?1 How should we deal with statements in traditional Jewish literature that are negative or discriminatory regarding non-Jews? 1 Background The Torah teaches the equality of all human beings created in the image of God and is positive toward non-Israelites. Rabbinic literature similarly contains numerous positive statements about Gentiles. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that there are passages in rabbinic literature, kabbalah and medieval philosophical works that depict Gentiles in negative terms, as inferior to Jews and sometimes even as less than human. Many of these negative statements and depictions can be explained as normal reactions to the exceedingly cruel treatment of Jews by non-Jews, be it the Roman Empire, the Church or others. Some, however, go far beyond that, positing an exclusivist theology. Dealing with discriminatory laws and negative texts when teaching our tradition to youth and adults can be problematic, to say nothing of how we deal with them when interacting with Gentiles.
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