שאלה
Dear Rabbi,
I saw quotations from the gemarah which seemed to be racist.
I'll bring a few of them:
Penalty for Disobeying Rabbis
Erubin 21b. Whosoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell.
Hitting a Jew is the same as hitting God
Sanhedrin 58b. If a heathen (gentile) hits a Jew, the gentile must be killed.
O.K. to Cheat Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . A Jew need not pay a gentile ("Cuthean") the wages owed him for work.
Jews Have Superior Legal Status
Baba Kamma 37b. "If an ox of an Israelite gores an ox of a Canaanite there is no liability; but if an ox of a Canaanite gores an ox of an Israelite...the payment is to be in full."
Jews May Steal from Non-Jews
Baba Mezia 24a . If a Jew finds an object lost by a gentile ("heathen") it does not have to be returned. (Affirmed also in Baba Kamma 113b). Sanhedrin 76a. God will not spare a Jew who "marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son or returns a lost article to a Cuthean..."
Jews May Rob and Kill Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . When a Jew murders a gentile ("Cuthean"), there will be no death penalty. What a Jew steals from a gentile he may keep.
Baba Kamma 37b. The gentiles are outside the protection of the law and God has "exposed their money to Israel."
Jews May Lie to Non-Jews
Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.
Non-Jewish Children are Sub-Human
How can we understand these seemingly racist ideas?
I'm a religious Jew.
Yours sincerely
Gina
תשובה
בס"ד
שלום רב,
השאלה בענין גזענות של יהודים נגד גויים והדוגמאות שהבאת נדונים בהרחבה במאמר שכתב ידידיה צוקרמן.
מצד אחד הוא מביא הסברים להלכות הללו ומצד שני הוא מביא עמדה של המאירי שהלכות אלו לא נוגעות לגויים של היום.
אני מצרף קישור למאמר
http://www.ypt.co.il/show.asp?id=19086
בברכה