Behar-Acceptance of Ger Toshav
Our Torah portion brings a very special commandment that is also related to the children of Noah. The Yovel (Jubilee) is observed only at the time of the Holy Temple, and after seven cycles of Shemittah, which total 49 years (7 cycles of Shemitah x 7 years each = 49 years), the fiftieth year is called the jubilee year. This is also a year of rest for the land, but it holds additional significance. This year requires that the land not be farmed. It is another year of ecological rest and renewal, mainly, trusting that we will get divine abundance despite the rest from farming the land.
A non-Jew may also live permanently in the land of Israel as a Noahide. It is called Ger Toshav, and such a Noahide has civil rights like anyone else. With that being said, the acceptance of Ger Toshav can happen only in the jubilee year. However, any Gentile who fulfills the seven Noahide commandments anywhere else in the world is accepted in the eyes of Hashem.
Any Gentile who is settled in the land of Israel and around the world should accept the Noahide laws. This, too, is for the benefit of this individual and all human beings around the world. The Torah says explicitly that the land of Israel was given entirely to the Jewish people, and no other nation has even the slightest amount of ownership over this land.
Everyone has human prejudice and human attitudes he accumulated during his life. At some point, he will have to challenge those attitudes with the divine truth. And then to choose life for the benefit of the soul. It might be hard to grasp because most people were educated differently. Still, the divine will and truth were created for our good. If the soul wants to be in good standing, it just chooses to play its real role in this world.
The year of Jubilee serves as a reminder that the land ultimately belongs to God and that He is the absolute owner of the world and He gave the land of Israel to the Jewish people. We should always strive to discover and understand more and more of the divine wisdom, as this is the ultimate good and the key to a unified world aimed at serving G-d.
*This is from a series of articles by Rabbi Bernstein Moshe.
