Lerner on Israel

Michael Lerner comments, “[Shlomo] Riskin and his followers seem to never have heard the Torah commandment, “Thou shalt love the stranger” (Aug. 13). From the context of Lerner’s article it appears he is attempting to say that the Torah teaches us to love the stranger; i.e., in this case the Palestinians, and to extend an open hand in peace to them.

Lerner may be, as he says, “a religiously observant Jew,” but he certainly does not state the correct meaning of Torah Mitzvah (commandment) No. 431. This commandment, which ironically will be read this week in all Torah-observant synagogues the world over, is found in Deuteronomy 10:19. Lerner translates the word Gar as “stranger.” This is incorrect. Gar , as a noun, means proselyte, i.e., convert to Judaism or foreigner. So the sentence in the Torah, we learn, says “and you shall love the convert to Judaism (or foreigner).”

Clearly the Palestinians are not converts to Judaism. On the other hand maybe they are foreigners living in Israel. For the Torah states explicitly in Numbers 34:1-12 that God gave the Israelites all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. So I suggest to Lerner that if he is going to quote the Torah he should at least correctly learn what it says first.

MICHOEL H. ZELDIS

Los Angeles