The Obligations of Foreigners: From the Ger Toshav to the Rioters of Paris
In 2013, a ceremony was held to mark the transition between the two Chief Rabbis of the United Synagogue in Britian. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks stepped down, and Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis succeeded him, a position he continues to hold today. As I watched the ceremony, I was struck by the fact that it concluded with the singing of “God Save the King,” followed immediately by “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. The ceremony was unusual: although it was not an official British event, the then-Prince of Wales, who is now King Charles III, attended. Singing Israel’s national anthem in his presence was far from a matter of course.
I asked a close, English friend how Britain could accept this. After all, Israel is a foreign country. Would Pakistanis living in Britain be permitted to sing their national anthem at ceremonies held on British soil? Would we in Israel look favorably upon ceremonies at which Arab citizens sang the national anthems of Arab states?
My friend’s answer was simple: there is a difference between Jews and other minority groups. “Jews have never been a threat to England. On the contrary, they have only contributed to the country. That is why no one minds our singing Hatikvah.”
For thousands of years, and to this day, Jews have served as an exemplary model of how a minority should conduct itself within a society dominated by another people. Jews have not abandoned their identity; they have established communal institutions to preserve it. At the same time, they have consistently known how to respect and appreciate their host countries, pray for them, and work for their benefit. They have integrated while maintaining their distinct identity, making significant contributions to the societies in which they have lived. They have never posed a threat, and even when persecuted, they have remained loyal to the countries in which they lived. In the way an ethnic minority should behave in its host country, Jews have been a light unto the nations.
The conduct of various minority groups in Western countries today, both in Europe and in the United States, stands in stark contrast. We have all seen videos of thousands of young people, many of them immigrants, demonstrating, looting, vandalizing property, and attacking police officers in the streets of Paris and Milan. We have never seen Jewish or pro-Israel demonstrations conducted in this manner. There has never been a demonstration anywhere in the world featuring Israeli flags at which ordinary citizens were afraid to walk past. Jews offer a living example of how a minority can integrate into a majority society. They demonstrate what genuine cultural pluralism looks like: the preservation of multiple, complex identities that enrich, rather than threaten, the social fabric.
But if we can learn from the Jewish experience as a minority, we should also learn from Jewish tradition about how to behave when we ourselves constitute the majority. How should the State of Israel, with its Jewish majority, conduct itself toward the minority groups within its borders?
When this question is discussed, many people emphasize the majority’s obligation to act responsibly and show concern for minority groups. Jewish law indeed recognizes this responsibility. Maimonides rules: “it appears to me that in regard to respect and honor and also, in regard to charity, a resident alien (=Ger Toashav) is to be treated as a Jew for behold, we are commanded to sustain them.”
Yet it is equally important to recall the obligations that Jewish law places upon the ger toshav, the resident alien. To be accepted as a resident alien within the majority society, one must first observe the Seven Noahide Commandments. These include prohibitions against theft, murder, and sexual immorality, as well as the prohibition against eating a limb taken from a living animal, which reflects a duty to treat animals with respect. These are basic moral standards necessary for the proper functioning of society.
Above all, however, stands the prohibition against idolatry, which is also binding upon the ger toshav. As I understand it, this prohibition requires the resident alien to respect the fundamental collective identity of the majority society. Idolatry, of course, is the very opposite of the faith of Israel. As the Talmud declares, “Anyone who rejects idolatry is called a Jew” (Megillah 13a). A ger toshav living as a minority among us may not engage in idolatry because one cannot fully participate in the majority society while rejecting the foundations of its identity.
It follows that the State of Israel has an obligation to demand that all minorities living within its borders, and the Arab community in particular, first and foremost adhere to basic moral standards. A majority society cannot tolerate criminal behavior of the kind we have witnessed on European streets. Beyond that, minorities must respect the state’s Jewish identity and refrain from speech or actions that deny it. Only by fulfilling these obligations can minorities enjoy the rights the state affords them.
If these principles are clearly articulated and consistently enforced, we too can become a light unto the nations in this regard. Those who dream of imposing Sharia law on Britain, France, or the United States cannot expect to enjoy equality within the majority society while seeking to undermine its foundations. Those who loot, rob, rape, and murder must be removed from the country.
The time has come to embrace the laws governing the ger toshav—with compassion, but also with firmness and justice. We still have something to teach the world about this.
