parashat ki tavo Altering Your Ancestry
The Torah portion read in synagogues around the world this week is parashat ki tavo. Parashat ki tavo means “the portion when you enter.” Parashat ki tavo runs from Deuteronomy 26:1 to 29:8. Parashat ki tavo begins,
“And it shall come to pass when you enter the land which HaShem your God is giving you as a possession, and you inherit it and settle it. Then you shall take from the first of all the produce of the ground which you shall bring from your land which HaShem your God is giving you and put it in a basket and you shall go to the place where HaShem your God shall choose to tabernacle his name there. And you shall come to the priest who shall be in those days and say to him, ‘Today I declare to HaShem your God that I have entered the land which HaShem swore to our fathers to give us.’ And the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of HaShem your God. And you shall answer and say before HaShem your God, ‘A perishing Armean was my father, he went down into Egypt and resided there few in number and became there a great Gentile, mighty and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and abused us and imposed hard labor over us. Then we cried to HaShem the God of our fathers and HaShem heard our voice and saw our mistreatment and our toil and our oppression. And HaShem brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and with wonders. And he brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first produce of the ground which HaShem has given me.’ And you shall set it before HaShem your God and you shall prostrate yourself before HaShem your God. And you shall rejoice in all the goodness which HaShem your God has given you and your household, you, and the Levite, and the resident alien who is among you.”
Parashat ki tavo lays out instructions for a joyful celebration. The ceremony of presenting the first produce combines symbolic action and a public declaration. It spells out the connection between HaShem’s promises to the fathers and Israel’s entry into the Promised Land.
But what about those people whose biological ancestors weren’t Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov? What about people who’ve come to worship the God of Israel purely out of personal conviction rather than family heritage? Our Torah portion commands the resident alien to rejoice along with the Israelite, his household, and the Levite. But what does the resident alien really have to rejoice about in this situation? He or she can’t declare, “a perishing Armean was my father.” Is he or she qualified to present first produce?
Our earliest code of legal tradition gives a flat “no” for an answer. Mishna tractate bikkurim 1.4 lays down the accepted ruling in the 2nd century of the Common Era.
“A resident alien may bring, but may not declare, because he cannot say, ‘Which HaShem swore to our fathers to give us.’ If his mother was from Israel, he may bring and declare. When he prays in private, he should say, ‘God of Israel’s fathers,’ but in the synagogue he should say, ‘God of our fathers’ along with everybody else.”
End of quote. For some people that ancient ruling might seem to close the discussion as to whether non-Jewish people are permitted to declare first produce. But some people don’t understand how Torah works. Torah isn’t simply a cut-and-dry rulebook; Torah includes a process for addressing new situations and reapplying old commandments in creative new ways. Deuteronomy 17:8-11 is the Torah’s mandate for its own innovation.
“If a case for judgment should be too baffling for you, between bloodguilt and bloodguilt, between liability and liability, between wound and wound, cases of lawsuit in your gates, then you shall rise and go up to the place where HaShem your God shall choose. And you shall go to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days. And you shall inquire, and they shall tell you the case of judgment. And you shall do according to the case which they tell you from that place where HaShem shall choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all what they instruct you. According to the Torah, which they shall declare to be Torah for you, and the judgment, which they shall say to you. Do not deviate from the case which they shall tell you right or left.”
So, what are our resources for innovating Torah? In every generation, Torah-observant men and women have unburdened their hearts and addressed their concerns to compassionate leaders. Their answers, while not having immediate authority, have informed further discussion. As consensus develops, the Torah can be applied in new ways.
It’s a little like the US supreme court: minority decisions are recorded and later often come to influence majority decisions. We call these questions and answers, responsa, or sh-elot v-shtuvot. Everybody’s heard of Talmud, right, but who except Jews ever talk about sh-elot v-shtuvot? Sh-elot v-shtuvot are actually a fantastic resource for non-Jews seeking to deepen their walk with God.
During the 12th century a Gentile convert to Judaism named Ovadia addressed the question of presenting first produce in parashat ki tavo to Rambam. Like many non-Jewish people today, Ovadia longed to fully participate in Jewish worship. Rambam was the personal physician of the Sultan Salakh al Din in Egypt. Rambam found time in his busy schedule to write a personal answer to Ovadia. Today that answer is part of the responsa, part of the sh-elot v-shtuvot. What interests us about Rambam’s answer is his jurisprudence. By accessing various other passages in the Torah, Rambam reinterprets the commandment of presenting first produce. I quote Rambam’s answer to Ovadia.
"You asked regarding the blessings and prayers, both as regarding private and public utterance by yourself, whether you may say, “Our God and the God of our fathers,” “who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us,” “who has separated us,” “who has chosen us,” “who bequeathed our fathers,” “who brought us out of the Land of Egypt,” “who has wrought miracles for our fathers” and similar formulae. You should recite them all, just as they are formulated in the liturgy. Change nothing! But just as every native-born son of Israel prays and recites blessings, so you should do, whether in private or public utterance as leader of the prayers.
The reason for this is that it was Abraham our father who taught all mankind. He imparted to them the true religion and the unity of the Holy One Blessed be He. He spurned idolatry and repudiated its worship. He brought many children under the wings of the Divine Presence, teaching and instructing them, and commanded his children and household after him to keep the path of HaShem as it is written in the Torah [Genesis 18:19], “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of HaShem, to do justice and judgment.”
Consequently, everyone who accepts Judaism till the end of all generations and whoever acknowledges the unity of the Holy One blessed be He, as laid down in the Torah, is of the disciples of Abraham our Father, peace be upon him. They all belong to his household. He brought back all who are destined to accept Judaism by the testament that he bequeathed his sons and household after him. It follows that the patriarch Abraham is the father of all his seed who follow in his ways and is the father of all his disciples, which implies every proselyte who is accepted into the Jewish fold.
You should therefore say, “Our God and the God of our fathers,” since Abraham, peace be upon him, is your father. You should likewise say, “who bequeathed our fathers,” since the land was given to Abraham as it is written, “Arise and go forth in the land, its length and breadth, for to thee have I given it.” But as for, “who brought us out of the land of Egypt” and “who wrought miracles for our fathers” — if you wish to emend it into “who brought Israel out of Egypt” and “who wrought miracles for Israel,” do so. But if you do not emend it, you have lost nothing; forasmuch as you have come to shelter under the wings of the Divine Presence and have joined yourself unto him, there is now no difference between you and ourselves. And all the miracles that were wrought in the past were wrought both for us and for you.
Behold Isaiah states [66:3], “Let not the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to HaShem, speak, saying, HaShem hath utterly separated me from his people...” There is absolutely no difference whatsoever between us and you.”
End of quote. To an outsider this may look like lawyers bickering over trifles. What’s the big deal whether somebody prays “us” or “them,” whether somebody prays “our” or “your?” Are we going to pick a fight over pronouns?
One of the primary components of Jewish identity is prayer. Jewish prayer is distinctive in that it is collective. Jewish people come together and thank God for delivering their ancestors. Jewish people come together and confess sins which they personally may never have committed, because they take responsibility for their brothers and sisters. No matter where on earth they live, Jewish people come together and pray for seasonal rainfall in the Land of Israel. In public prayer Jewish people stand before God not so much as individuals, but more as a group. To pray in a group with other Jews is one of the primary experiences that makes you Jewish.
By answering the seemingly trivial question of whether a convert may pray “our” and “us,” Rambam is actually treating the larger question of Gentile inclusion in Israel. Defining how a convert prays defines to what extent a convert becomes Jewish and in what sense a convert remains a convert.
Rambam next argues that to discriminate in public worship between natural-born Jews and Jewish converts would violate the Torah’s own demand for a single Torah.
Certainly you should say “who has chosen us,” “who has given us his Torah,” “who has caused us to inherit,” “who has separated us,” since the Creator has already chosen you and separated you from the Gentiles and given you the Torah; for the Torah was given both to us and the proselytes, as it is said [Numbers 14:15], “There shall be one statute for you and for the resident alien who resides. It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations, as you are as the resident alien shall be before HaShem. There shall be one Torah and one justice for you and for the resident alien residing with you.”
Know that many of our forefathers who went forth from Egypt were idol worshippers, who had become assimilated among the Gentiles and learnt their ways. Then the Holy One blessed be He sent our Teacher Moshe, master of all the prophets, and separated us from the peoples and brought us under the wings of the Divine Presence, both us and all the resident aliens, and made one Torah for all of us.
Ramban next argues that our common humanity is more important than our later ancestry,
Neither let your ancestry be esteemed lightly by you. If we trace our ancestry to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, yours is to be traced to him who spoke and the world came into being. So is it explained in Isaiah [44:5], “One shall say I am HaShem’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Yaakov; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto HaShem and surname himself by the name of Israel.”
Rambam next argues that the ruling handed down in the Mishna is anonymous.In Jewish law an attributed decision is always preferred over an anonymous decision. Since Rabbi Meir was the judge who compiled the Mishna, any anonymous rulings in the Mishna are presumed to be his. Rambam points to the discussion of this mishna in the Jerusalem Talmud where the contrary decision is recorded in the mouth of Rabbi Yhuda. Rabbi Yhuda was a contemporary of Rabbi Meir, and would have had personal knowledge of Rabbi Meir’s true opinion. So in this case the anonymous opinion recorded in the Mishna is truly anonymous; the presumption that it belongs to Rabbi Meir is highly questionable and has no force of law.
The upshot is that the Mishna is not the last word! Just because the Mishna says proselytes can’t declare first produce doesn’t settle the matter. A God-fearing judge can open the Torah up for proselytes to fully participate in Israel’s worship. All it takes is empathy for the proselyte, which the Torah commands of all Jews, and a good legal head. Rambam again.
“All that we have stated regarding the blessings, that you should not deviate from the accepted formula can be deduced from the passage in tractate bikkurim — “The proselyte brings first produce but does not declare, since he cannot say, “Which the Lord swore unto our fathers to give to us.” And when he prays in synagogue he says, “The God of our fathers.” And if his mother was Jewish, he says, “The God of our fathers.” But when he prays in private he says, “My God and the God of the forefathers of Israel.” This is an anonymous Mishna, which implies that Rabbi Meir was the author and this is not the accepted ruling, which is as explained in the Jerusalem Talmud: “There we said, it was learnt in the name of R. Yhuda — A proselyte himself brings the first fruits and recites the formula. Why so? — “for a father of a multitude of nations have I made you” — Aforetime he was the father of Aram (country of his birth), from now onwards the father of all humanity. Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: the torah is in accordance with the ruling of Rabbi Yhuda.” Behold it has been made clear to you that you should say, “which HaShem swore to our forefather,” and that Abraham is your father and that of all the righteous who follow his ways. This applies to all the blessings and prayers. You should not alter anything.”
Rambam redefines what constitutes Avraham’s seed. Basing himself on Genesis 18:19, Ramban lays down that all persons who keep HaShem’s ways are children of Father Avraham. Basing himself on Genesis 17:5, Rambam lays down that Avraham is the father of a multitude of Gentiles. Rambam draws the conclusion that “there is absolutely no difference whatsoever between us and between you.” Gentile proselytes are just as much the children of Avraham as are Jews. They are entitled to pray in public exactly like Jews.
Rambam’s answer to Ovadia should ring a bell with anybody familiar with the Final Portion of Scripture. The Apostle Shaul uses the very same Torah passage to argue for the inclusion of non-Jewish people in God’s family. The Apostle Shaul’s line of reasoning is also the same as Rambam’s. Romans 4:16-18.
“Hence it proceeds from faithfulness, in order that it might be a matter of grace, so that the promise may be sure to all the seed, no only to that of Torah, but also to that of Avraham’s faithfulness, who is the father of us all. Just as it is written, ‘I have made you father of multitudes of Gentiles’ in the presence of God in whom he trusted, who makes the dead alive and calls things which do not exist as though they existed. Who contrary to hope trusted in hope, so he might become ‘father of multitudes of Gentiles,’ according to what was spoken, ‘So shall be your seed.’”
The value of the Rambam’s long-winded answer to Ovadia is that it enables us to see what the Apostle Shaul is driving at in Romans chapter 4. The Apostle Shaul is exercising the legal authority granted him by Yeshua to bind and release. The Apostle Shaul is laying down an authoritative Torah decision. The Apostle Shaul is carrying out his responsibility to innovate Torah as commanded in Deuteronomy 17. The Apostle Shaul is not some maverick making an ad hoc decision and leaving other Christian leaders to worry about the consequences. He's acting responsibly. He’s using jurisprudence to open up Torah blessings to an additional people group.
The difference between Rambam and the Apostle Shaul is that Rambam says that in order for a non-Jew to become a child of Avraham, he or she must first become a convert to Judaism. The Apostle Shaul says, no, a non-Jew can become a child of Avraham, without becoming a Jew. He says Gentiles should no longer participate in God’s covenant with Israel in order to become children of Avraham. From here on out Gentiles become children of Avraham by participating in Mashiach. The covenant is only valid for God’s firstborn son; everybody else becomes a child of God by adoption. Since the sign of the covenant wasn’t given Avraham until after he’d been given the promise of becoming father of many Gentiles, the promise trumps the covenant.
But both Rambam and the Apostle Shaul agree that non-Jews have the possibility of altering their ancestry. Both Rambam and the Apostle Shaul agree that non-Jews can join Avraham’s family and enjoy the same heritage as his natural-born children. Non-Jews can choose Avraham for their father and put themselves in line for his wonderful inheritance. HaShem promised Avraham that his descendants would inherit the earth (Romans 4:13). Inheritance doesn’t get any better than that! In Romans 4:16 The Apostle Shaul lays down that membership in God’s family is a matter of ancestry. Avraham is the father of us all.
“Hence it proceeds from faithfulness, in order that it might be a matter of grace, so that the promise may be sure to all the seed, no only to that of Torah, but also to that of Avraham’s faithfulness, who is the father of us all.”
Shaul doesn’t deny that the promise is for those of Torah, but he argues that the promise is also for those of Avraham’s faithfulness. Both Avraham’s children on the basis of Torah and Avraham’s children on the basis of his faithfulness are legitimate. There are two ways to become a descendent of Avraham and Sara.
It’s been very difficult for Christians to accept that God’s family is a matter of ancestry. The Church father Origen taught the Apostle Shaul couldn’t have possibly meant what he obviously said in Romans 4:16. Origen said that by “of the Torah” here the Apostle Shaul must have meant natural law, not the Torah which God gave Israel. Origen denied that those on the basis of Torah are Avraham’s children. Origen taught that God disinherited all Avraham’s natural-born children at the cross. Only adopted children are legitimate. Most Christians throughout the centuries have followed Origen’s interpretation of Romans 4:16. Most Christians have taught that a practicing Jew must apostatize from God’s covenant with Israel in order to sign onto God’s family again under a new contract.
In the previous chapter of Romans however, the Apostle Shaul makes clear that while God now brings Gentiles into relationship with himself outside the framework of his covenant at Sinai, God is still the God of the Jews and his covenant with Israel is still valid. Romans 3:28-30.
“For we maintain that a [non-Jewish] person is made right by faithfulness without works of Torah. Or is God the God of the Jews only? Not of the Gentiles also? Yes, also of Gentiles. If indeed God, who will make the circumcision right out [εκ] of faithfulness, is one, he will also make the foreskin right through [δια] faithfulness.”
The set of prepositions translated “out of” and “through” express contrast in Greek syntax. God has two contrasting kinds of faithfulness operating in Romans 3:30: “out of faithfulness” and “through faithfulness.” God’s “out of faithfulness” is for bringing “the circumcision,” that is Jewish people, into right relationship with himself. God’s “through faithfulness” is for bringing “the foreskin,” that is non-Jewish people, into right relationship with himself. God’s two kinds of faithfulness are separate, but tightly interdependent. It is God’s own oneness that holds his faithfulness to the circumcision and his faithfulness to the foreskin together.
“If indeed God, who will make the circumcision right out of faithfulness, is one, he will also make the foreskin right through faithfulness!”
Elsewhere the Apostle Shaul makes clear that membership in God’s family is a matter of ancestry. Even Jewish enemies of the gospel belong in God’s family! In Romans 11:28, 29 he says,
“As regards the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but as regards divine choice they are loved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and choice of God are irrevocable.”
If belonging to God weren’t a matter of ancestry, The Apostle Shaul wouldn’t waste the entire chapter of Romans 4 arguing how non-Jews can cash in on Avraham’s ancestry. Ancestry is everything.
As both Rambam and the Apostle Shaul eloquently argue, Avraham’s entire heritage belongs to God’s children. In this regard there is absolutely no difference between Jew and non-Jew. Israel’s heritage is our heritage whether we were born into it or whether we’ve acquired it. Ancient Israel’s heritage belongs both to Judaism and Christianity. It does not belong more to one than to the other. As adult children we need to get serious about reclaiming our glorious heritage. As the Apostle Shaul says, “Avraham is the father of us all.”
