In Part 4 we discussed the world being created with a hierarchy where every creation is happy and satisfied with its traits and life that it has. The non- Jews were likewise created with the need to fulfill the 7 Noahide commandments and won’t feel a lack or need for more mitzvoth. Click here for part 4. Part 5 discusses the direct relationship between the difficulty of keeping the Torah the responsibility it entails and its reward. For part 5 click here.
Let us now proceed to part 6, our final portion of this discussion.
It’s is very important to note that there is no concept of racism in Judaism. Anyone from any race that wants to become a Jew can do so. When he converts and accepts upon himself the responsibility to observe the Torah and its mitzvoth he is a Jew for all purposes. The Torah does not reject someone African or Chinese due to race. Quite the contrary, the Torah commands to love converts and not to discriminate against them as the verse says: “You shall love the convert”, (Deuteronomy 10, 19) and “A convert do not oppress”, (Exodus, 22, 20)
In every weekday Amida prayer we say 32 times a day we say a blessing: On the righteous and the saintly… and on the true converts and ourselves, may Your compassion G-d be aroused and give good reward to all who trust in you and may our portion be with them.”
So how do the non-Jews come to know Torah?
“Rabbi Elazar ben Pedath says: “The Holy One Blessed be He had not exiled Israel amongst the other nations except to gather converts” (Pesachim 87b). The nation of Israel is dispersed around the world and the whole world got to know the chosen nation and it’s Torah. It is no coincidence that the Torah is the most published book in civilization. Anyone just beginning to investigate religion will first look in the Torah and through it G-d’s original true revelation to the nation of Israel.
From this we can see that G-d did not forsake the nations, he gave them the 7 Noahide laws which award them a portion in the world to come. But in addition to this, G-d publicized His Torah around the world. In doing so, G-d made it accessible to any non-Jew who wants to know more about the true Torah and convert. The fact is that over the generations many non-Jews converted the most famous being Ruth who ended up being the progenitor of King David and his eternal dynasty and the messiah who is called Moshiach ben (The son of) David. Some of our greatest sages were converts or descendants of converts. So we see the door is always open to those who genuinely seek G-d’s truth.
Any individual non-Jew looking for G-d and longing for his closeness will without a doubt come to find G-d’s Torah with pure honest thinking and divine assistance. Let us not forget that G-d’s eyes roam the world: “G-d looks from heaven upon man to see if there is someone wise who seeks G-d” (Psalms 14, 2). Our sages also say: “In the way a person desires to go he is led” (Makkot 10b) and whoever wants to sully himself will have the opportunity and the one who comes to purify will be assisted” (Shabbat 104a).
We should trust the hand of Divine providence guiding the non-Jews who want closeness to G-d to find the truth and convert. Whoever heard stories of converts will time after time find their love of truth and the divine providence that led them to our holy Torah and a whole ‘string of coincidences’ too numerous to count!
The door to joining the nation of Israel was always open in all generations for those who desired it.
In summation, G-d discriminated against no one. He gave non-Jews 7 commandments according to their ability and desire to fulfill them and didn’t burden them with more than they would want. They received 7 commandments and if they still want more they are welcome to embrace Judaism and join the eternal nation.
