The Others 1: Jews and Non-Jews

The mishna teaches: An ox of a Jew that gored the ox of a gentile, the owner is exempt from liability. The Sages said: This is difficult whichever way you look at it. If “of his neighbor” is meant in a precise manner, the ox of another Jew, when a gentile’s ox gores that of a Jew he should also be exempt from liability. And if the phrase is not meant in a precise manner, then even when a Jew’s ox gores that of a gentile the owner should be liable. Rabbi Abbahu saidthe verse states: “He stood and meausred the earth; He beheld, and made the nations tremble [vayyatter]” (Habakkuk 3:6). God saw the seven mitzvot that the descendants of Noah accepted upon themselves, and since they did not fulfill them, He arose and permitted [vehittir] their money to the Jewish people... Rav Mattana says: “He stood and shook the earth etc.” What did He see? He saw the seven mitzvot that the descendants of Noah were commanded but did not fulfill, and He arose and exiled them from their land... Rav Yosef says: “He stood and shook the earth; He beheld.” What did He see? He saw the seven mitzvot that the descendants of Noah accepted upon themselves and did not fulfill, so He arose and permitted their prohibitions to them.Did they thereby profit? If so, we have found a transgressor who is rewarded?! Mar, son of Rabbana, says:to say that even if they fulfill them, they do not receive reward for fulfilling them. No? But isn’t it taught that Rabbi Meir says: From where is it derived that even a gentile who engages in Torah is considered like a High Priest? The verse states “Which if a person does, he shall live by them” (Leviticus 18:5). It is not stated: priests and Levites and Israelites, but rather: A person. You have therefore learned that even a gentile who engages in Torah is considered like a High Priest. The Sages said in response: they do not receive the reward as does one who is commanded to perform a mitzva and performs it, but as does one who is not commanded to perform a mitzva and performs it anyway. As Rabbi Ḥanina says: One who is commanded and performs a mitzva is greater than one who is not commanded and performs it.

The graves of gentiles do not render items impure though a tent, as it is stated: “And you My flock, the flock of My pasture, are man” (Ezekiel 34:31). You are called man but gentiles are not called man. Question: “And the men were sixteen thousand”? due to the need to distinguish from the animals. “Wherein are more than one hundred and twenty thousand men that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle” (Jonah 4:11). Due to the need to distinguish from the animals.

(101) 95. The Rabbi: Bear with me a little while that I show the lofty station of the people. For me it is sufficient that God chose them as His people from all nations of the world, and allowed His influence to rest on all of them, and that they nearly approached being addressed by Him. It even descended on their women, among whom were prophetesses, whilst since Adam only isolated individuals had been inspired till then. Adam was perfection itself, because no flaw could be found in a work of a wise and Almighty Creator, wrought from a substance chosen by Him, and fashioned according to His own design. There was no restraining influence, no fear of atavism, no question of nutrition or education during the years of childhood and growth; neither was there the influence of climate, water, or soil to consider. For He created him in the form of an adolescent, perfect in body and mind. The soul with which he was endowed was perfect; his intellect was the loftiest which it is possible for a human being to possess, and beyond this he was gifted with the divine power of such high rank, that it brought him into connexion with beings divine and spiritual, and enabled him, with slight reflection, to comprehend the great truths without instruction. We call him God's son, and we call all those who were like him also sons of God. He left many children, of whom the only one capable of taking his place was Abel, because he alone was like him. After he had been slain by Kain through jealousy of this privilege, it passed to his brother Seth, who also was like Adam, being [as it were] his essence and heart, whilst the others were like husks and rotten fruit. The essence of Seth, then, passed to Enosh, and in this way the divine influence was inherited by isolated individuals down to Noah. They are compared to the heart; they resembled Adam, and were styled sons of God. They were perfect outwardly and inwardly, their lives, knowledge and ability being likewise faultless. Their lives fix the chronology from Adam to Noah, as well as from Noah to Abraham. There were some, however, among them who did not come under divine influence, as Terah, but his son Abraham was the disciple of his grandfather Eber, and was born in the lifetime of Noah. Thus the divine spirit descended from the grandfather to the grandchildren. Abraham represented the essence of Eber, being his disciple, and for this reason he was called Ibri. Eber represented the essence of Shem, the latter that of Noah. He inherited the temperate zone, the centre and principal part of which is Palestine, the land of prophecy. Japheth turned towards north, and Ham towards south. The essence of Abraham passed over to Isaac, to the exclusion of the other sons who were all removed from the land, the special inheritance of Isaac. The prerogative of Isaac descended on Jacob, whilst Esau was sent from the land which belonged to Jacob. The sons of the latter were all worthy of the divine influence, as well as of the country distinguished by the divine spirit. This is the first instance of the divine influence descending on a number of people, whereas it had previously only been vouchsafed to isolated individuals. Then God tended them in Egypt, multiplied and aggrandised them, as a tree with a sound root grows until it produces perfect fruit, resembling the first fruit from which it was planted, viz. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brethren. The seed further produced Moses, Aaron and Miriam, Bezaleel, Oholiab, and the chiefs of the tribes, the seventy Elders, who were all endowed with the spirit of prophecy; then Joshua, Kaleb, Hur, and many others. Then they became worthy of having the divine light and providence made visible to them. If disobedient men existed among them, they were hated, but remained, without doubt, of the essence inasmuch as they were part of it on account of their descent and nature, and begat children who were of the same stamp. An ungodly man received consideration in proportion to the minuteness of the essence with which he was endowed, for it reappeared in his children and grandchildren according to the purity of their lineage. This is how we regard Terah and others in whom the divine afflatus was not visible, though, to a certain extent, it underlay his natural disposition, so that he begat a descendant filled with the essence, which was not the case with all the posterity of Ham and Japhet. We perceive a similar phenomenon in nature at large. Many people do not resemble their father, but take after their grand-fathers. There cannot, consequently, be any doubt that this nature and resemblance was hidden in the father, although it did not become visible outwardly, as was the nature of Eber in his children, until it reappeared in Abraham.

Yisrael's form needs to be researched, whether the general humanity of the human essence exist in them the same as it is for all other nations, and upon it the unique Yisraeli form is being built, or is it the case the from head to toes it is all unique. These research requires various sources, of Torah, wisdom, historical, kabbalic, phenomenological, lyric and sometimes political and economic. It would appear the originally it was set for the human form as a whole to be perfected, and as an addition and advantage, this unique nation will display its marvelous spirit of holiness. But matters were spoiled and the general human spirit sank so low, that the Chol (natural) could not have become a base for the holy without spoiling it, and the exile in Egypt was necessary as a melting pot, which purified the human side of Yisrael, until it became a nwe being, and its Chol form completely indistinguishable. And a nation was suddenly born by the human seed into a form that is uniquely Yisraeli head to toes, Yaakov and Yisrael.

If someone tells you there is wisdom among the gentiles, believe it, for it is written: "I will remove the wise ones from Edom and intelligence from the mountain of Esav". [But if someone tells you that] there is Torah among the gentiles, do not believe it, for it is written: "It's kings and nobles among the gentiles there is no Torah".