Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Torah Portion and Tanach
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The navi (Shmuel II, 15:18) lists the entourage of David’s servants, who retreated with him from Yerushalayim during Avshalom’s rebellion. This includes 600 Gitites who came "b’raglo" (lit., with his leg) from Gat. (Gat was a Plishti city, ruled by Achish). Who were these people, where did they come from, and what does b’raglo mean?
The Radak understood from Targum Yonatan that it means they "came along with him," i.e., with Itai, David’s Gitite officer. We humbly point out that the pasuk implies they came with David, in which case this was decades earlier, when David broke his apparent partnership with Achish and began his kingdom in Chevron. Yonatan does not express an opinion as to whether these Gitites were Jews who lived in Gat or non-Jews from there, and if the latter, whether they converted after David impressed them. The gemara (Avoda Zara 44a) cites an opinion that even Itai was not Jewish during at least part of his time serving David (which enabled him to remove the status of idolatry from objects). The Radak, after mentioning this opinion, posited that Itai and the others were Jews who lived in Gat but came to support David against Avshalom. According to him, b’raglo means "because of" David (see Bereishit 30:30).
It is difficult to say they came from Gat at this time, as the fleeing from Yerushalayim was hastily organized and Gat was a 2–3-day journey. Therefore, we prefer to explain that they came from Gat well before, as either converts or geirei toshav, a status of partial joining of Bnei Yisrael but not full converts. David suggested to Itai that it was not personally worthwhile for him to join David, but Itai followed the national interest and joined him (Shmuel II, 15:19). He was later appointed a major army commander (ibid. 18:2), thereby joining other prominent converts in such positions (see ibid. 11:3 and 23:39).
In our days, a great many people from the FSU have difficulty proving Jewish identity. Eretz Hemdah has been at the forefront of efforts to use MtDNA to bolster the claim of many born Jews who have difficulty proving it, as MtDNA connects people to genetic chains via mothers in a way that make their Jewishness very likely (Bemareh Habazak IX:30 contains a responsum signed by Rav Z.N. Goldberg). This reliable halachic tool shines a light of "ways of pleasantness."
Many olim came under the Law of Return but are not Jewish (many have Jewish origins); they can only become Jewish through a full halachic conversion. However, it is important to impress upon these multitudes, who are living in our midst and marry within "the fold", that Torah values and lifestyle are well worth their efforts to embrace. The belief in Hashem, which people with a Torah background have imparted upon so many brothers in arms, has connected many Jews and non-Jewish Israelis to national unity and a connection with Hashem. We should take the special opportunity to draw people even closer to the nation, and for those in need, encourage conversion. These efforts are predicated on the critical need to avoid things that create division and hatred.
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