Kiddushin, Daf Ayin, Part 6
אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל ארבע מאות עבדים ואמרי לה ארבעת אלפים עבדים היו לו לפשחור בן אימר וכולם נטמעו בכהונה וכל כהן שיש בו עזות פנים אינו אלא מהם
אמר אביי כולהו יתבן בשורא דבנהרדעא
ופליגא דרבי אלעזר דאמר ר’ אלעזר אם ראית כהן בעזות מצח אל תהרהר אחריו שנא’ (הושע ד, ד) ועמך כמריבי כהן
R. Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: Pashchur son of Immer had four hundred slaves others say, four thousand slaves and all became mixed up in the priesthood, and every priest who displays impudence is [descended] from one of them.
Abaye said: And they all reside in the row of honor [in] Nehardea.
Now he [R. Yehudah] differs from R. Elazar. For R. Elazar said: If you see an insolent priest, do not suspect him, for it is said: Your people are as those who quarrel with a priest (Hosea 4:4).
R. Yehudah casts aspersions on all impudent priests. Pashchur b. Immer was a priest in the time of Jeremiah. He is found in Jeremiah 20. He is described as having deep conflict with Jeremiah and is not a positive character at all. Here he seems to be the emblematic priest priests that come after him are descended from his slaves. Abaye adds another slam on the people of Nehardea. Those who sit in the row of honor are all descendants of slaves. Abaye, as you can imagine, was not from Nehardea.
Abaye and R. Yehudah s negative views of lineage of cantankerous priests are not shared by R. Elazar. Priests are just cranky, quarrelsome people. This does not mean that they have flawed lineage. One wonders how the priests would have responded to this.
אמר רבי אבין בר רב אדא אמר רב כל הנושא אשה שאינה הוגנת לו כשהקב"ה משרה שכינתו מעיד על כל השבטים ואין מעיד עליו שנאמר (תהלים קכב, ד) שבטי יה עדות לישראל אימתי הוי עדות לישראל בזמן שהשבטים שבטי יה
R. Abin b. R. Adda said in the name of Rav: Whoever takes a wife who is not fit for him, when the Holy One, blessed be He, causes His Divine Presence to rest [on Israel], he testifies concerning all the tribes [that they are His people], but does not testify about him, for it is said: The tribes of the Lord, as a testimony to Israel (Psalms 122:4): when is it a testimony to Israel ? When the tribes are tribes of the Lord.
God, in a sense, cuts off men who marry wives not fit for them (meaning their lineage is not appropriate). The people of Israel are a testimony to God only when their proper lineage is preserved.
אמר ר’ חמא ברבי חנינא כשהקב"ה משרה שכינתו אין משרה אלא על משפחות מיוחסות שבישראל שנא’ (ירמיהו לא, א) בעת ההיא נאם ה’ אהיה לאלהים לכל משפחות ישראל לכל ישראל לא נאמר אלא לכל משפחות
R. Hama b. R. Hanina said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, causes His Divine Presence to rest, it is only upon those families in Israel who have unflawed lineage, for it is said: At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God to all the families of Israel (Jeremiah 31:1) to all Israel was not stated, rather, to all the families of Israel is said.
God s Divine Presence will rest only on families with unflawed lineage.
[והמה] יהיו לי לעם
אמר רבה בר רב הונא זו מעלה יתירה יש בין ישראל לגרים דאילו בישראל כתיב בהו (יחזקאל לז, כז) והייתי להם לאלהים [והמה] יהיו לי לעם ואילו בגרים כתיב (ירמיהו ל, כא) מי הוא זה ערב את לבו לגשת אלי נאם ה’ והייתם לי לעם ואנכי אהיה לכם לאלהים
And they shall be my people.
Rabbah son of R. Huna said: This is the extra advantage which Israel possesses over converts. For with regard to Israel it is written, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Ezekiel 37:27); whereas of converts it is written, For who is he that has pledged his heart to approach unto Me? says the Lord. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God (Jeremiah 30:21).
The comparison of the two verses allows Rabbah bar R. Huna to conclude that those born as Jews are automatically the people of God. Whereas converts must first pledge their hearts to God, and then they too shall be God s people.
This source is, in my opinion, an accurate reflection of a dominant trend in Judaism. Jews, by virtue of being born Jewish, have a special relationship with God. As problematic as this sounds to our ears, the rabbis believed that Jews are God s chosen people and as such have special responsibilities as to how they act in the world. But they also believed that the path to God is not closed to the rest of the world. It is open and it is each individual s choice to choose that path.
אמר רבי חלבו קשים גרים לישראל כספחת שנאמר (ישעיהו יד, א) ונלוה הגר עליהם ונספחו על בית יעקב כתיב הכא ונספחו וכתיב התם (ויקרא יד, נו) לשאת ולספחת
R. Helbo said: Converts are as difficult to Israel as a scab, for it is said: And the stranger shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave [ve-nispehu] to the house of Jacob (Isaiah 14:1). Here it is written: venispehu ; while there it is written. And for a sore and for a scab [sappaḥat] (Leviticus 14:56).
R. Helbo plays on the similarity in the Hebrew between the word and they shall cleave and the word for scab in the context of skin diseases. Converts, are difficult to Israel, like scabs and sores are difficult to a person.
There are several different interpretations of this fairly well-known statement. In my opinion, the simple reading is that R. Helbo has a very negative, blood-related (perhaps racist, if you want), view of conversion. Converts, whose lineage is not Jewish, defile, in a sense the pure blood of Jews, and while Judaism is open to conversion, this is not something that should be celebrated.
However, we should note that throughout history there have been more positive takes on this statement, and some more ambivalent ones. A positive take is that converts, by their dedication to Judaism, and their choice to join, make Jews look bad, for Jews are often lax in their observance. Rashi reads the difficulty of converts in that they are not scrupulous in the performance of the commandments.
The history of Judaism s attitude to converts and conversion is, like most things in Judaism, long, complicated and dynamic.