Devar/5770/Ki Tetse
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עברית
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An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the LORD; even to the tenth generation shall none of them enter into the assembly of the LORD for ever (Deut 23:4)
That is to say that it is impossible for a male from one of these nations to marry a Jewish woman, even several generations after he converted. The reason for this oddity is given in the next verse: because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-naharaim, to curse thee (ibid 5). This is similar to the manner we are commanded to treat Amalek, which is written at the end of this portion.
In complete contrast is the command which comes in a few more verses: Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite, for he is thy brother; thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children of the third generation that are born unto them may enter into the assembly of the LORD. (ibid 8,9). It is understandable that the Edomites are considered "brethren", and therefore we don't push them off more than three generations -- but do we have to say "thank you" to the Egyptians, who worked us with hard labor and tried to kill us off? The Torah says, "yes", though they were a kind of enemy, nevertheless they gave us a place to live -- and for that we must thank them and allow them to enter into the assembly of God, albeit not immediately. Acknowledgment of the good done one is a very important trait.
But those nations who exhibited excessive cruelty -- who did not even permit us to purchase food from them -- them the Torah has banished permanently, because cruelty is an extremely bad trait. But even for them there is hope: When Sancheriv the king of Assyria arose, he confounded all the nations and mixed them one with the other, and exiled them from their places. So those Egyptians living in Egypt today, are different people; similarly the Edomites living in the Field of Edom. And because the four forbidden nations were mixed among all the other nations of the world, who are permitted, all of them became permitted. Since anyone who comes to convert, is assumed to be from the majority (Laws of Forbidden Relations 12:19).
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