Non-Jews Residing in the Land of Israel
מגורי נכרים בארץ ישראל
The great vision of the Jewish people in its Land is that the Land be settled by the people of Israel, that the Temple stand on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, that all systems of national life be conducted according to the Torah’s guidance in morality and holiness, and that the Jewish people be a light unto the nations, who will come to visit the Land and receive inspiration for the rectification of the nations and the world. As the prophet said (Yeshayahu 2:2-4): “And it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the House of God shall be established at the top of the mountains and exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall stream to it. And many peoples shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of God, to the House of the God of Yaakov, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for from Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of God from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between the nations and shall rebuke many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.”
To realize this vision, the entire Land must be settled by Israel, and only gentiles who wish to be partners in Israel’s great vision will be able to join the Jewish people with the status of a ger toshav (resident alien). True, the road to realizing the vision is still long, but we must strive as much as possible to realize it.
Therefore we must study the two prohibitions mentioned in the Torah regarding non-Jews residing in the Land of Israel. The first is a general prohibition binding the Jewish people, as it is stated (Shemot 23:32-33): “You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me, for you will serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.” The second is a specific prohibition directed at each individual, not to sell land to a non-Jew, so as not to give them a foothold in the Land, as it is stated (ibid. 7:2-4): “You shall make no covenant with them, nor show them favor (lo teḥanem). Neither shall you intermarry with them… for he will turn away your son from following Me, and they will serve other gods…” The great Rishonim and Aḥaronim disagreed as to which gentiles these prohibitions were stated regarding. Three main views were stated on this:
According to the first view, the prohibition “They shall not dwell in your land” applies only to the seven Canaanite nations, with whom the Torah was dealing when it commanded the children of Israel as they were about to enter the Land. But the prohibition of “lo teḥanem” applies to other nations as well, according to the second or third view below (Rashi, Ra’avad, Semag).
According to the second view, these prohibitions apply in all generations to idol worshippers or people who do not observe the seven Noahide mitzvot, regarding whom there is a concern that they may cause Israel to sin. But one who is worthy of being considered a ger toshav, i.e., one who observes the seven Noahide mitzvot out of faith in God, the God of Israel, while accepting the sovereignty of the Jewish people over its Land as the Torah commands, is not subject to the prohibition (Kesef Mishneh in his commentary on the Rambam; Mizbe’aḥ Adama). These are the seven Noahide mitzvot: the prohibition of idolatry, the prohibition of sexual immorality, the prohibition of bloodshed, the prohibition of theft and robbery, the prohibition of “blessing” God (a euphemism, meaning cursing), the prohibition of eating a limb from a living animal, and the obligation to appoint courts to judge justly in all laws between man and his fellow.
According to the third view, any gentile who has not been accepted by a beit din to the status of a ger toshav – we are commanded that he not dwell in our Land, and that we not give him a foothold in the soil of the Land of Israel. When the Jubilee is not in effect, the courts have no authority to accept a ger toshav, and consequently today, when the Jubilee is not in effect, there is no permission to leave gentiles in the Land. The reason for this view is that the Torah wished to guide us to establish a holy nation in the Land of Israel, and as long as the gentile has not formally and properly accepted upon himself to live according to the principles of the Torah of Israel, he can have a negative influence on society (this is the view of the Rambam according to the Maggid Mishneh and Minḥat Ḥinukh, and it is the view of the Ritva and the Netziv).¹
Notes (1)
- The view that the prohibition “They shall not dwell in your land” applies only to the seven nations is the view of Rashi, Gittin 45a; Ra’avad, Hilkhot Avoda Zara 10:6; Semag, negative commandments 47, 49. However, it seems that even according to them the prohibition of “lo teḥanem” applies to all gentiles (like the second or third view). There is disagreement about the Rambam’s view in Hilkhot Avoda Zara 10:6. According to the Kesef Mishneh, whoever in practice observes the seven mitzvot may be left in the Land. Mizbe’aḥ Adama agreed, and this is the second view. However, most poskim understood that according to the Rambam, only one who was accepted as a ger toshav by a beit din may live in the Land, and today it is not possible to accept a ger toshav. So the Ra’avad understood (although he himself holds otherwise), and so did the Maggid Mishneh and Minḥat Ḥinukh. R. Rabinovitch in Yad Peshuta (Hilkhot Avoda Zara 10:7) distinguishes between two types of ger toshav: one who was formally accepted by a beit din and whom we are obligated to sustain, a status attainable only when the Jubilee is in effect; and non-Jews who in practice conduct themselves as a ger toshav – there is no prohibition for them to live in the Land, but there is no mitzva to sustain them.
Others who hold like the third view are the Ritva, Makkot 9a, and Kaftor Va-Feraḥ. So too is implied by Yalkut Shimoni, Mishpatim, remez 361. In contrast, the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai, ch. 23:33, implies the second view, as do Radak, II Shmuel 24:23, and the Yere’im, siman 315. In general, the prohibitions of “lo teḥanem” and “They shall not dwell in your land” correspond; so wrote Rav Kook, and so it is explained in R. Goren’s responsum below, siman 1, section 8, and siman 2, responsum 3.
This disagreement is one of the points of contention in the dispute over the heter mekhira (sale permit) for Shevi’it. According to the Netziv and several other Aḥaronim, the halakha follows the third view, and therefore it is forbidden to sell the fields to a gentile during Shemita. Those who support the heter mekhira, among them R. Yitzḥak Elḥanan, the Rav of Kutna and R. Mohilever, and after them our master Rav Kook, relied in pressing circumstances on the second view, which permits selling fields in the Land of Israel to one who in practice observes the seven Noahide mitzvot – and even this only in a sale intended for one year, on condition that it be returned, and in order to strengthen Jewish settlement in the Land (Peninei Halakha: Shevi’it Ve-Yovel 7:6, 5).