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Ekev – Love the Convert: How?

You shall love the convert (Devarim 10:19)

In recent years, in tandem with emergence of large-scale charity organizations, we have become accustomed to “charity pamphlets” that bring individual cases of poverty and tragedy to the attention of potential donors. True to their purpose, these pamphlets utilize the media of graphics, prose, and drama, in seeking to arouse the readers’ compassion for the specific cause. At the same time, accompanying halachic material is often presented, highlighting the great virtue of donating to the cause.

One of the questions that arises in this connection is how to present cases involving a ger tzeddek—the convert within Israel. On the one hand, we are commanded in a specific instruction to love the convert, as the verse in our Parashah clearly states: “You shall love the convert” (Devarim 10:19). Naturally, this verse has been used by charity organizations in prompting potential donors to contribute to the cause of needy gerei tzeddek.

On the other, as we will see below, the instruction to love the convert does not necessarly have direct implications concerning the order in which contributions to charity should be given. The mitzvah, as will be shown, requires a certain amount of elucidation.

The Order of Donation

As noted, the Torah explicitly instructs us in loving the convert: “You shall love the convert.” In light of this explicit mitzvah, we might think it incumbent on us to give preference to the convert in every form of donation. Where limited charity funds are available (this is usually the case), we would have to give the poor convert in advance of those born to Jewish parentage. Likewise, where there is only one gift to give, and the choice must be made between a Jew from birth and a ger tzeddek, the verdict would fall in favor of the convert.

Indeed, at least with regard to giving gifts, this is the ruling issued by Rabbi Eliyahu Kushlevsky (Davar Shebeminyan, mitzvah 17). Discussing a case in which both a Jew from birth and a convert require a specific item, or a case in which a person has a choice of whom to conduct his business dealings with, Rabbi Kushlevsky writes that the convert should be preferred. The logic of this decision is simple: although we are obligated to love all Jews, the obligation to love the convert is doubled, giving him preference over his Jewish brethren. Rabbi Kushlevsky proceeds to cite an example of this in the tale of Ruth, where we find that Boaz preferred Ruth the convert to Jewish poor.

However, in contrast to this rationale, we find that in questions of saving lives and returning lost property, the Mishnah (Horios 13a) clearly places a Jew from birth before the convert: “A kohen precedes a levi, a levi precedes a yisrael, a yisrael precedes a mamzer, a mamzer precedes a nasin, a nasin precedes a ger, and a ger precedes a freed slave.” The Mishnah concludes that this order of preference only applies among equals; when they are unequal, a mamzer Torah scholar takes precedence even over the Kohen Gadol!

Just as the ordinary Jew is given preference with regard to sustaining his life, so, it would seem, the Jew is to be given preference with regard to donations, gifts, and regular dealings—the difference is merely quantitative. Moreover, this ruling is clearly implied in the words of Rambam and Shulchan Aruch: “If several paupers are before him, or several captives, and there is insufficient funding to sustain or clothe or redeem all of them, a kohen precedes a levi, a levi precedes a yisrael, a yisrael precedes a chalal … and a nasin precedes a ger” (Matnos Aniyim 8:17).

Rambam thus rules that the Jew from birth precedes the convert even concerning “clothing”—a ruling also found in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah, 251:9). The same order of preference would presumably apply to all other forms of giving, for which preference is given to Jews from birth (unlike the above ruling of Davar Shebeminyan).

The question we must ask is how this order of preference can be resolved with the special mitzvah to love the convert. Surely, in view of the special mitzvah to love the ger tzeddek, he should be given preference over the Jew from birth, and not vice versa?

Love of the Convert

In his letter to Obadiah the convert, Rambam opens with words of praise that are generally unfound in his other writings: “I received the ques­tion of the mas­ter Obadiah, the wise and learned convert, may Hashem reward him for his work, may a per­fect rec­om­pense be bestowed upon him by the G-d of Israel, under whose wings he has sought cover.”

Rambam’s admiration for the convert is apparent throughout the letter. After ruling that the convert may pray with the same words as a Jew from birth, Rambam concludes with the following words: “Do not con­sider your ori­gin as infe­rior. While we are the descen­dants of Avra­ham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, you derive from Him through whose word the world was cre­ated.”

In another letter to Obadiah, Rambam reveals the core of our relationship with converts: a relationship of love. “Know that the obligation which the Torah has placed upon us with respect to converts is great: with respect to father and mother, we have been commanded with respect to honor and awe, and with respect to prophets, to obey them, and it is possible for one to honor, hold in awe, and obey one whom one does not love; but with respect to converts, we have been commanded concerning love, something which is given over to the heart—”You shall love the convert,” as we have been commanded to love His Name—”You shall love Hashem, your G-d,” and the Holy One, blessed be He, loves the convert, as it says, ‘and loves the convert, in giving him food and clothing (Shemos 10:18).”

It is noteworthy that Rambam writes that one is not obligated to love one father and mother, or the prophet. This statement demands scrutiny: surely, the obligation to “love your fellow as yourself” (Vayikra 19:17) applies even to father and prophet? Why is the obligation of love reserved for the convert alone?

Moreover, the comparison of love of the convert with the love of Hashem is particularly striking, and is repeated by Rambam in his Hilchos De’os (6:4). Rambam writes that although a person is obligated to love each and every Jew, the obligation to love the convert is doubled. He proceeds to conclude that “He has instructed us in the love of the convert as in His own love, as it is written, “You shall love Hashem, your God.” What is so special about the love of the convert?

Two Forms of Love

We may glean some understanding of the matter by means of introducing the commentary of Rambam to the mitzvah of “love you neighbor as yourself.” Ramban writes that the obligation cannot be understood on a literal level. It is impossible for a person to love another to the degree he loves himself. Rather, the intention of the instruction is that a person should act towards his fellow with love, just as he acts towards himself: “The instruction of the Torah is to love one’s fellow in every matter, just as he loves himself with all goodness.”

Ramban proceeds to base this understanding on the wording of the verse: “It is possible that since the verse says “to your neighbor” (lere’acha) … to make the love of both comparable in his mind. For sometimes one loves his neighbor with the things that are known to enhance his material happiness, but not with wisdom, and qualities that are similar to it…. And that his beloved friend should be blessed with happiness, property, honor, knowledge and wisdom, while not comparing himself to his friend, by wishing in his heart that he himself should be more than his friend in all that is good. For there should not be this kind of petty jealousy, as the verse commands, “like one does for one’s self,” and thus he should not make limits to his love.”

The distinction made by Ramban will allow us to understand the puzzling statements of Rambam concerning love of the convert. The scriptural command to love “to one’s neighbor” expresses an obligation to act with love, but does not describe an instruction to love in one’s heart—for it is impossible to love another as one loves oneself. With regard to a convert, however, Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky (Emes Le’Yaakov, Vayikra 19:17) has pointed out that the verse uses the expression of true love: not love “to the convert” (leger), but “of the convert” (es hager). One must love the convert in the full sense of the word: not merely love of deed, but a profound love of the heart.

In this the love of the convert is comparable to love of Hashem, of which the verse uses the same terminology: “You shall love Hashem, your G-d.” Just as there is an obligation to love Hashem—not a love of deed but a love of heart, which Rambam describes as attaining closeness with and “knowledge of” G-d (Hilchos De’os, chap. 2)—so we are instructed to love the convert in a conceptual sense. We must endear his sacrifice; we are obligated to mentally embrace his entry beneath the wings of the Shechinah; and our hearts must be full of love towards him.

Thus, in his letter to Obadiah the convert, Rambam writes that whereas one is not obligated to love one’s father and mother, one is obligated to love the convert. The love of each and every Jew can be expressed in terms of deeds; the love of the convert must find expression in the depths of the heart. They are different forms of love.

Only the latter, concludes Rambam—the love of the convert—is comparable to the love of Hashem.

Love of the Heart

In the light of the above understanding, we can perhaps find an answer to the seeming contradiction between the obligation to love the convert, and the order of precedence that places the Jew before the convert. Surely the obligation to love the convert should give him precedence over the Jew from birth?

Yet, although the convert is included in the mitzvah to love one’s neighbor as one’s own self (an explicit verse includes him in this instruction), the Mishnah teaches that there are distinctions between one “neighbor” and another. A kohen takes precedence over a levi, a levi over a yisrael, and a Jew from birth over a convert. All Jews form the limbs of a single body; yet this does not mean that there are no distinctions between one limb and another.

With regard to this question, the special mitzvah of love unique to the convert does not affect his placement on the ladder of preference. The mitzvah is not to love “to the convert”—to act towards him with love—but to “actually” love the convert—a conceptual love reserved for the convert alone. The instruction to love the convert accentuates his unparalleled sacrifice and draws us close to his heroic deed, yet makes no impact on the order of donation.

This does not mean that it is wrong to mention the mitzvah of loving the convert in request for charity donations. One who gives charity to a convert, heightening his appreciation of the convert’s deed and bringing his love of the convert to the fore, has fulfilled the mitzvah of “you shall love the convert.” However, it is important to note that in terms of order of precedence, it is the Jew from birth who comes first.

Accepting Converts

It is interesting to note that there is no explicit mitzvah in the Torah to accept converts. However, the Gemara states (Yevamos 47b), in connection with the judicial process of accepting converts, that “one does not delay a mitzvah,” which implies that accepting converts does fulfill a mitzvah (as pointed out by Rashbatz, in Zohar Harakia). If no mitzvah is mentioned by the Torah, which mitzvah does the Gemara refer to.

Several approaches are suggested in addressing this question (see Mishnah Halachos, vol. 6, Yoreh De’ah 92; Sefas Emes, Shabbos 147b; Glosses of Rav Yosef Engel, Yevamos ibid; commentary of Rabbi Yehudah Perlow to Rasag, mitzvah 19). One, which is mentioned by Ri Albargaloni (cited by Rabbi Perlow), is that the acceptance of converts is included in the mitzvah to love the convert.

If the mitzvah of loving the convert would imply no more than the love of one Jew for another, this would hardly be a valid source for a mitzvah of accepting converts. The love of one Jew for his fellow does not obligate us in procreation!

However, in the light of our analysis of the mitzvah, we can perhaps understand the connection between the two. As we have seen, the love of a convert does not merely imply acting towards the convert with love, but rather a profound attachment with the concept of conversion—of coming under the wings of the Shechinah. This type of love, we may suggest, includes even the mitzvah to accept converts: if the concept of conversion is dear to us, it follows that we are bound to accept converts.

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1 Comment

  1. Rabbi,
    What exactly is a nasin? I have seen this word before but don’t know exactly what it is, and have been unable to find a definition.
    Thank you so much.

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