Q&A: A Non-Jew Who Wants the Blessing of God
A Non-Jew Who Wants the Blessing of God
Question
A complete non-Jew.
A real Ivan.
But he learned the verse:
“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow—so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
He wants a blessing from God.
So?
He is interested in leasing agricultural land in the Land of Israel from the Israel Land Authority, working it through agents, and observing the commandment of forgotten sheaves for the poor of Israel, because he wants God’s blessing.
Would he receive any blessing from this?
Is it permissible to lease him land for this purpose?
(He undertakes not to come settle in the Land, Heaven forbid, as a result of this, and in any case this is agricultural land with no reasonable or foreseeable possibility of rezoning for construction, so he would not come live there; and even if it were rezoned, his rights in the land would be terminated immediately once it is released for construction, and he would only receive some compensation.)
Will he see blessing from it?
Is it permitted to lease it to him?
Answer
I don’t understand much about matters of blessing. But the commandment of charity is an important and beautiful thing, and I assume that the Holy One, blessed be He, would look favorably on it. Not that I understand why he can’t just give money to charity and be done with it, instead of messing around with leasing land and leaving gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field. I’d get this nonsense out of his head regardless of the question of whether it’s permitted or forbidden and whether there is or isn’t a blessing.
There is also a problem of “do not show them favor.” Now, as for a non-Jew who already lives here, you can’t really prohibit it, but for a non-Jew from abroad I don’t see a reason for it. Even with agricultural land there is a prohibition of “do not show them favor.” Though when it comes to a lease from the Israel Land Authority, maybe it’s different. Renting to a non-Jew is permitted. Still, with renting out fields they were more stringent, because it exempts the produce from tithes.
Bottom line: it’s worth telling him that this is just pointless foolishness.
Discussion on Answer
Good point. But it’s not so simple. The halakhic decisors disagree about to whom the prohibition of “do not show them favor” applies, and apparently it applies only to a resident alien. However, Meiri (Avodah Zarah 20) also wrote regarding “do not show them favor” that it does not apply to non-Jews who are bound by civilized norms. But on the face of it, it seems you are right.
Regarding “do not show them favor,” I thought that according to your approach, present-day non-Jews are not included in that prohibition, only the non-Jews of earlier times.
Is that not so?