Ta Shma R. Shai Held: Loving the Stranger-Sojourner (Ger)
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Feb 17, 2026 A deep dive into the Torah's repeated command to love the stranger-sojourner. Clear distinctions between love of God, neighbor, and the outsider are drawn. Texts from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy are used to explore memory, legal protections, and communal responsibility. The talk links biblical narratives of vulnerability to a call for ethical society and warns against dehumanizing the vulnerable.
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Loving The Stranger As Imitating God
- Deuteronomy frames loving the stranger as imitating God, making it a spiritual practice of imitatio Dei.
- Loving the ger thus links ethical action to divine character and shapes the spiritual life.
We Deliver God's Love
- The text implies God shows love to the stranger by commanding Israel to provide food and clothing.
- Israel functions as the means through which divine compassion is enacted in the world.
Expanding The Vulnerable Category
- The Bible uniquely expands concern for widows and orphans to include the stranger, making vulnerability a communal category.
- This move creates a cultural DNA of empathy that extends responsibility beyond 'my' vulnerable to 'the' vulnerable among us.
