Introduction:
In the previous letter,
we began to discuss the
following verse
regarding the Torah –
the Divine Teaching:
“The Torah that Moshe
commanded us is the
heritage of the
Community of Jacob.”
(Deuteronomy 33:4)
As we shall discuss in
this letter, the Torah
is not just the heritage
of those who were born
as Israelites; the Torah
is also the heritage of
individuals from other
peoples who become
Israelites through
following the Torah’s
procedures of
conversion.
A major step in their
conversion process is
their acceptance of the
Torah and its path of
mitzvos. Through this
acceptance, the
prospective converts are
emulating the example of
our people at Mount
Sinai, when we expressed
our willingness to
accept the Torah by
saying, “Everything that
Hashem has spoken, we
will do and we will
hear” (Exodus 24:7).
Through this commitment,
the Torah became the
heritage of our people.
The Torah also becomes
the heritage of the
prospective converts who
are willing to make a
similar commitment. Our
tradition finds a
reference to this idea
in the following Divine
statement:
“The convert who dwells
with you shall be like a
native among you”
(Leviticus 19:34).
According to the
midrashic commentary,
Toras Kohanim, the above
words are revealing the
following important
guideline which the
rabbinical court must
follow when accepting a
convert into the People
of Israel:
“Just as the native
Israelite accepted all
the words of the Torah,
so does the convert
accept all the words of
the Torah.”
The responsibility of
the convert must
therefore be equal to
the responsibility that
our people assumed at
Mount Sinai.
Dear Friends,
According to our
tradition, the following
verse is the first verse
that each child of
Israel learns as soon as
he or she begins to
speak:
“The Torah that Moshe
commanded us is the
heritage of the
Community of Jacob
(Deuteronomy 33:4).”
The above verse about
our heritage refers to
our people as,
Kehilas Yaakov –
the Community of Jacob.
The Hebrew term
kehilah is related
to a Hebrew term for
gathering; thus, the
term Kehilas Yaakov
can have the following
literal meaning: The
Gathering of the People
of Jacob. According to
our sages, the term
Kehilas Yaakov
includes converts; thus,
the mention of this term
in the above verse
conveys to us the
following teaching:
One should not say to
the descendants of
converts: “I am a child
of the Torah, and the
Torah was given to me
and my ancestors; you
and your ancestors,
however, are not the
children of the Torah,
as your ancestors were
converts.” This is
because it is written:
“The Torah that Moshe
commanded us is a
heritage of the
Gathering of the People
of Jacob”; this includes
the converts who
“gather” unto Jacob. (Midrash
Tanchuma, Exodus,
Va'Yakhel 8)
The Torah is
therefore the heritage
of all our people –
those who were born as
Israelites and those who
became Israelites
through conversion.
In my outreach
work, I discovered that
the dedication of
sincere converts to our
heritage can inspire
those of our people who
were born as Israelites.
The following are two
examples:
1. There are members of
our people who had
little or no knowledge
of the Torah; yet, after
meeting dedicated
converts, they
experienced a spiritual
elevation which
eventually led to their
commitment to the Torah.
2. There are members of
our people who have
studied the Torah and
who are committed to the
Torah; yet, after
meeting dedicated
converts, they
experienced a spiritual
elevation which
strengthened their
commitment to the Torah.
The converts become
Israelites through their
acceptance of the Torah;
thus, they serve as a
reminder that we are the
nation of the Torah. As
Hashem proclaimed to our
nation:
“Listen to Me, you who
know righteousness, the
nation with My Torah in
its heart” (Isaiah
51:7).
Be Well, and Shalom,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
(See below)
Related Insights and
Information:
1. Two books within our
Sacred Scriptures are
named after converts:
the Book of Ovadiah, and
the Book of Ruth. The
Talmud cites the
tradition that Ovadiah,
the Prophet, was a
convert from Edom
(Sanhedrin 39b).
2. The following is one
of the mitzvos of the
Torah path: “You shall
love the convert”
(Deuteronomy 10:19).
3. In a previous letter
about outreach, we
referred to the loving
approach of the Chazon
Ish, a leading sage of
the 20th century who
lived in the Land of
Israel. The following is
a story about the Chazon
Ish which relates to the
theme of this letter:
It was the custom of
this elderly sage to
celebrate Simchas Torah
in the study hall of the
Ponovezh Yeshiva, where
the teachers and
students joyfully dance
with the Torah to lively
spiritual nigunim
(melodies). One Simchas
Torah, when the Chazon
Ish left the yeshiva to
go home, he met a man
weeping openly in the
street. The Chazon Ish
expressed his concern,
and the man told the
Chazon Ish that he was a
convert; however, he
felt that some of his
fellow-Jews thought
little of him and
treated him as an
outcast. The Chazon Ish
said to him, “I invite
his honor to sing a
nigun.” The man obliged
and began singing in a
robust voice. There, in
the street, the Chazon
Ish danced to the nigun
in front of the convert
as one would dance
before a bride and a
groom at a wedding. The
spirits of the convert
were therefore revived.
(This story appears in
the ArtScroll biography,
“The Chazon Ish” by
Rabbi Shimon Finkelman:
www.artscroll.com .)
4. Ahuvah Gray is an
African-American convert
who lives in the
chareidi community of
Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem.
In her autobiography,
“Journey to the Land of
My Soul,” Ahuvah
describes the warm and
respectful way in which
she was accepted into
the Bayit Vegan
community. In her second
book, “Gifts of a
Stranger,” she discusses
her life after her
conversion. In one
chapter, she describes
the visit of her sister,
Nellie, to Bayit Vegan.
Nellie spent a Shabbos
with Ahuvah, and she
experienced the warm
hospitality of the
people that invited her
and Ahuvah for Shabbos
meals. When Nellie
returned to her home in
Los Angeles, she wrote
to Ahvuah:
“I feel that you have
truly found your niche
in Bayit Vegan. I have
never experienced such
love and acceptance as I
did from these lovely
families in your
neighborhood.”
The following is the
address of Ahuvah’s
website:
www.ahuvahgray.com
.
After you arrive
at the site, there will
appear some pictures of
the places around the
world where Ahuvah has
lectured. In the
“Shopping Cart” section,
there is information on
the DVD’s of some of her
lectures. Communities
and organizations in
Israel and the Diaspora
that would like to
invite Ahuvah Gray to
speak can contact her
through the address
listed on her site.