2

Rabbi Yaron Reuven says that one of the top obligations of gentiles is to "help Jews become more Jewish." "The goyim have to help Am Yisrael do teshuva." Is there a source in Torah or the Talmud that supports this view? Here is the video on YouTube where he says this and here is the time stamp 2:20. https://youtu.be/l5bWRNiXz0c?t=140

P.s. Regardless of any personal feelings towards Rabbi Yaron Reuven, the question remains; Where in the holy books does it say that the goyim are obligated to help Jews do teshuva? I'm only interested in knowing if the statements cited above are supported by Jewish philosophy.

Improve this question
5
  • 2
    Regarding R. Yaron Reuven and his statements: @shalom's answer to "Rabbi Yaron Reuven - Severe torture in gehinnom".
    – Tamir Evan
    Commented Mar 5 at 21:46
  • 1
    Anytime you hear someone talk about "the Goyim" ... that's a huge warning sign. Almost as bad as when people say "the Jews."
    – Shalom
    Commented Mar 5 at 22:18
  • @Shalom meaning what?
    – Curious Yid
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:00
  • 2
    @CuriousYid okay you or I could say "the Jews in Frankfurt have a different haftarah minhag" ... but "The Jews control [X]" assumes they are all the same, and/or all coordinated ... and it doesn't end well. Same thing to say "the Goyim ...."
    – Shalom
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:43
  • Every day, in morning blessings, we pray that G-d save us personally from lawyers, court, (frivolous) litigants whether Jewish or gentile, and the violent consequence of those judgements (which is called Gehinom). Something to take to heart in connection with this question when considering who is offering this "teaching". forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2012/05/23/…
    – Yaacov Deane
    Commented Mar 20 at 13:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

There are definitely Talmudic sources about non-Jewish persecution causing the Jews to do teshuva. (A famous quote from the Talmud is that "King Achashverosh handing his signet ring to Haman did more to make the Jews repent than all the preaching of the prophets...")

Similarly, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin (early 1800s) has the noted saying that "either the Jews make themselves special in a good way, or the non-Jews single them out in a bad way." ("Either we make kiddush, or they make havdalah.)

That's really all I can think of (and I'm not bothering to see the video you've linked): in a cosmic sense, some good may come out of persecution, as it reminds Jews who they are.

But for a well-meaning non-Jew asking what they can do to help? Please don't persecute us, thanks. "Oh I'll just go knocking on the doors of lapsed Jews and telling them to identify more!" Again ... no thanks.

The Talmud says (to paraphrase slightly) that "converts are a big headache for the Jewish mainstream"; one interpretation is that their religious sincerity puts the "blue-blooded" Jews to shame. If that's how we view converts, I'd have a very -- very -- hard time swallowing a notion that non-Jews should be knocking on my door and telling me to be a better Jew.

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    +1. There are some inspiring stories floating around of, at the right time in the right way, non Jews encourage Jews to be the chosen people etc, but definitely don't knock on any doors.
    – Rabbi Kaii
    Commented Mar 5 at 23:43
  • Not all non Jews are the same. There are some good people out there. But I understand it's hard to believe this being that in the last 5700 plus years, Jews have had a not-so-friendly relationship with gentiles. But believe me, they are out there.
    – Miguel
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:06
  • Interesting but this is not what he is claiming in the video. In the video he makes the claim that non Jews have the obligation to help Jews do teshuvah
    – Dude
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:38
  • 2
    @Miguel that's lovely. But good fences make good neighbors. Please don't go knocking on doors. Dude -- I don't know where he's getting that, put mildly. Hence I brought down the closest thing I could possibly think of with Talmudic sourcing.
    – Shalom
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:44
  • 1
    @Shalom Good neighbors make good neighbors.
    – Miguel
    Commented Mar 6 at 0:57

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .