Editing Seven Laws of Noah (section)

=== ''Ger toshav'' (resident alien) ===
{{Main|Ger toshav}}

During [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|biblical times]], a gentile living in the [[Land of Israel]] who did not want to convert to Judaism but accepted the Seven Laws of Noah as binding upon himself was granted the legal status of ''ger toshav'' ({{langx|he|גר תושב}}, ''ger'': "foreigner" or "alien" + ''toshav'': "resident", lit. "[[Alien (law)|resident alien]]").<ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Bromiley 1986">{{cite book |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey W. |author-link=Geoffrey W. Bromiley |title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |year=1986 |edition=Fully Revised |page=1010 |volume=3 |publisher=[[Eerdmans]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |isbn=0-8028-3783-2 |quote=In rabbinic literature the ''ger toshab'' was a Gentile who observed the Noachian commandments but was not considered a convert to Judaism because he did not agree to circumcision. [...] some scholars have made the mistake of calling the ''ger toshab'' a "proselyte" or "semiproselyte." But the ''ger toshab'' was really a resident alien in Israel. Some scholars have claimed that the term "[[God-fearer|those who fear God]]" (''yir᾿ei Elohim''/''Shamayim'') was used in rabbinic literature to denote Gentiles who were on the fringe of the synagogue. They were not converts to Judaism, although they were attracted to the Jewish religion and observed part of the law.}}</ref><ref name="Bleich 1995">{{cite book |last=Bleich |first=J. David |author-link=J. David Bleich |year=1995 |title=Contemporary Halakhic Problems |volume=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOqQrPlc9ggC&pg=PA161 |location=New York City |publisher=[[KTAV Publishing House]] ([[Yeshiva University Press]]) |page=161 |isbn=0-88125-474-6 |quote=[[Rashi]], ''Yevamot'' 48b, maintains that a resident alien (''ger toshav'') is obliged to observe ''[[Shabbat]]''. The ''ger toshav'', in accepting the Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noah, has renounced idolatry and [...] thereby acquires a status similar to that of [[Abraham]]. [...] Indeed, [[Nissim of Gerona|Rabbenu Nissim]], ''Avodah Zarah'' 67b, declares that the status on an unimmersed convert is inferior to that of a ''ger toshav'' because the former's acceptance of the {{qi|yoke of the commandments}} is intended to be binding only upon subsequent immersion. Moreover, the institution of ''ger toshav'' as a formal halakhic construct has lapsed with the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Temple]]. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="JE2">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jacobs |first1=Joseph |author1-link=Joseph Jacobs |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |author2-link=Emil G. Hirsch |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12391-proselyte#anchor4 |title=Proselyte: Semi-Converts |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |year=1906 |publisher=[[Kopelman Foundation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531104704/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12391-proselyte |archive-date=31 May 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020 |quote=In order to find a precedent the rabbis went so far as to assume that [[proselyte]]s of this order were recognized in [[Mosaic Law|Biblical law]], applying to them the term "toshab" ("sojourner," "aborigine," referring to the [[Canaanites]]; see Maimonides' explanation in "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7; see Grätz, l.c. p. 15), in connection with "ger" (see Ex. xxv. 47, where the better reading would be "we-toshab"). Another name for one of this class was "proselyte of the gate" ("ger ha-sha'ar," that is, one under Jewish civil jurisdiction; comp. Deut. v. 14, xiv. 21, referring to the stranger who had legal claims upon the generosity and protection of his Jewish neighbors). In order to be recognized as one of these the neophyte had publicly to assume, before three "ḥaberim," or men of authority, the solemn obligation not to worship idols, an obligation which involved the recognition of the seven Noachian injunctions as binding ('Ab. Zarah 64b; "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7). ... The more rigorous seem to have been inclined to insist upon such converts observing the entire Law, with the exception of the reservations and modifications explicitly made in their behalf. The more lenient were ready to accord them full equality with Jews as soon as they had solemnly forsworn idolatry. The "via media" was taken by those that regarded public adherence to the seven Noachian precepts as the indispensable prerequisite (Gerim iii.; 'Ab. Zarah 64b; Yer. Yeb. 8d; Grätz, l.c. pp. 19–20). The outward sign of this adherence to Judaism was the observance of the Sabbath (Grätz, l.c. pp. 20 et seq.; but comp. Ker. 8b).}}</ref> A ''ger toshav'' is therefore commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile" ({{langx|he|חסיד אומות העולם|link=no}}, ''Chassid Umot ha-Olam'': "Pious People of the World"),<ref name="myjewishlearning.com"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="ET1"/><ref name="Sefaria"/> and is assured of a place in the [[World to Come#Jewish eschatology|World to Come (''Olam Ha-Ba'')]].<ref name="myjewishlearning.com"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="ET1"/><ref name="Sefaria"/>

The rabbinic regulations regarding Jewish-gentile relations are modified in the case of a ''ger toshav''.<ref name="ET1"/> The accepted halakhic opinion is that the ''ger toshav'' must accept the seven Noahide laws in the presence of three ''haberim'' (men of authority),<ref name="JE2"/> or, according to the [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic tradition]], before a ''[[beth din]]'' (Jewish rabbinical court).<ref name="ET1"/> He will receive certain legal protection and privileges from the Jewish community, and there is an obligation to render him aid when in need. The restrictions on [[Shabbos goy|having a gentile do work for a Jew on the Shabbat]] are also greater when the gentile is a ''ger toshav''.<ref name="ET1"/>

According to [[Menachem Kellner]], a ''ger toshav'' could be a transitional stage on the way to becoming a "righteous alien" ({{langx|he|גר צדק|link=no}}, ''[[Conversion to Judaism#Terminology|ger tzedek]]''), i.e. a full [[Conversion to Judaism|convert to Judaism]].<ref name="Kellner1991">{{cite book |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |author-link=Menachem Kellner |year=1991 |title=Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish people |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBWiRKhun4oC&pg=PA44 |location=[[Albany, New York]] |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |series=SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy |page=44 |isbn=0-7914-0691-1 |quote=against my reading of Maimonides is strengthened by the fact that Maimonides himself says that the ''ger toshav'' is accepted only during the time that the Jubilee is practiced. The Jubilee year is no longer practiced in this dispensation [...]. Second, it is entirely reasonable to assume that Maimonides thought that the messianic conversion of the Gentiles would be a process that occurred in stages and that some or all Gentiles would go through the status of ''ger toshav'' on their way to the status of full convert, ''ger tzedek''. But this question aside, there are substantial reasons why it is very unlikely that Maimonides foresaw a messianic era in which the Gentiles would become only semi-converts (''ger toshav'') and not full converts (''ger tzedek''). Put simply, semi-converts are not separate from the Jews but equal to them; their status is in every way inferior and subordinate to that of the Jews. They are separate and ''un''equal. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He conjectures that, according to Maimonides, only a full ''ger tzedek'' would be found during the Messianic era.<ref name="Kellner1991"/> Furthermore, Kellner criticizes the assumption within [[Orthodox Judaism]] that there is an {{qi|ontological divide between Jews and Gentiles}},<ref name="Kellner2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishideas.org/article/orthodoxy-and-gentile-problem |title=Orthodoxy and "The Gentile Problem" |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |author-link=Menachem Kellner |date=Spring 2016 |website=[[Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals]] |publisher=[[Marc D. Angel]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801013545/https://www.jewishideas.org/article/orthodoxy-and-gentile-problem |archive-date=1 August 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> which he believes is contrary to what Maimonides thought and the [[Torah]] teaches,<ref name="Kellner2016"/> stating that {{qi|Gentiles as well as Jews are fully [[Creationism|created]] in the image of God}}.<ref name="Kellner2016"/>

According to [[Christine Hayes]], the ''gerim'' were not necessarily Gentile converts in the [[Hebrew Bible]], whether in the modern or rabbinic sense.<ref name="Hayes 2002"/> Nonetheless, they were granted many rights and privileges when they lived in the [[Land of Israel]].<ref name="Hayes 2002"/> For example, they could offer sacrifices, actively participate in Israelite politics, keep their distinct ethnic identity for many generations, inherit tribal allotments, etc.<ref name="Hayes 2002">{{cite book |author-last=Hayes |author-first=Christine |author-link=Christine Hayes |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGZ0_PUBLVcC&pg=PA19 |chapter=Part I: Gentile Impurities in Biblical and Second Temple Sources — Chapter 2: Gentile Impurity in the Bible |title=Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud |year=2002 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=19–44 |doi=10.1093/0195151208.003.0002 |isbn=9780199834273 |lccn=2001051154}}</ref>