Commentary for Kiddushin 140:15
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
but does not testify unto him, for it is said: The tribes of the Lord are a testimony unto Israel:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. CXXII. 4.');"><sup>25</sup></span> when is it 'a testimony unto Israel'? When the tribes are 'tribes of the Lord'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Worthily married and born.');"><sup>26</sup></span>
Daf Shevui to Kiddushin
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.
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.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy