Талмуд к Мал’ахи 1:15

Beloved are proselytes [by God], for [Scripture] everywhere uses the same epithets of them as of Israel; [61b] as it is stated, But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen.⁷Isa. 41, 8. Jacob is here interpreted as ibid. XLIV, 5, And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—these are the proselytes of righteousness (cf. towards the end of this tractate). The order of the quotations in V is confused. The term ‘love’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, I have loved you, saith the Lord,⁸Mal. 1, 2. and the term ‘love’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, And He loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.⁹Deut. 10, 18. Israel are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, For unto Me the children of Israel are servants,¹⁰Lev. 25, 55. V omits the quotation. and proselytes are called ‘servants’, as it is stated, To be His servants.¹¹Isa. 56, 6. The term ‘acceptable’ is used of Israel, as it is stated, And it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord,¹²Ex. 28, 38. and the term ‘acceptable’ is used of proselytes, as it is stated, Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar.¹³Isa. 56, 7. The term ‘keeping’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand,¹⁴Ps. 121, 5. and the term ‘keeping’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, The Lord preserveth the strangers.¹⁵ibid. CXLVI, 9. The term ‘ministering’ is applied to Israel, as it is stated, But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God,¹⁶Isa. 61, 6. and the term ‘ministering’ is applied to proselytes, as it is stated, Also the aliens, that join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto Him.¹⁷ibid. LVI, 6.
Beloved are proselytes seeing that our father Abraham did not circumcise himself when he was twenty or thirty years of age, but when he was ninety-nine years old;¹⁸Cf. Gen. 17, 24. since if he had circumcised himself when he was twenty or thirty years old, no Gentile would have become a proselyte when he had passed the age of twenty or thirty. The Holy One, blessed be He, kept putting it off¹⁹The verb has fallen out of V. until he had reached ninety-nine years, so as not to close the door in the face of proselytes, [and to allow more days and years so as to increase the reward of those who do His will, as it is stated, The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness’ sake, to make the teaching great and glorious].²⁰Isa. 42, 21. The passage within brackets is added by MS.K. and H.
Our father Abraham called himself a ger, as it is stated, I am a stranger [ger] and a sojourner with you.²¹Gen. 22, 4. Similarly David, king of Israel, called himself a ger, as it is stated, For I am a stranger [ger] with Thee,²²Ps. 39, 13. and likewise it states, For we are strangers before Thee.²³1 Chron. 29, 15.
Beloved is the Land of Israel because it makes proselytes fit [to be received]. If a man says in the Land of Israel, ‘I am a proselyte’, he is accepted at once, but outside the Land of Israel he is not accepted unless his witnesses are with him. Beloved is the Land of Israel because it atones for iniquities and transgressions, as it is stated, And the inhabitant shall not say: ‘I am sick’, the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.²⁴Isa. 33, 24.
And so you find in the four classes that stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated, One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.²⁵ibid. XLIV, 5. One shall say: ‘I am the Lord’s’—this alludes to one who belongs wholly to the Omnipresent and has no admixture of sin. Another shall call himself by the name of Jacob—this alludes to the proselytes of righteousness.²⁶A term to denote the genuine and complete convert. Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord—this alludes to those who repent. And surname himself by the name of Israel—this alludes to those who fear Heaven.

If the wine¹⁶⁰In the Rome ms. שְׁתָיוֹ “if he drank it as …” Since this paragraph is not connected with the preceding or the following ones, it is difficult to decide between the readings. is freshly pressed, if the wine¹⁶⁰In the Rome ms. שְׁתָיוֹ “if he drank it as …” Since this paragraph is not connected with the preceding or the following ones, it is difficult to decide between the readings. is sour¹⁶¹This is wine for which it is a matter of opinion whether it is sour wine or sweet vinegar. It still must contain some alcohol. The first hand of the Leiden ms. wrote יַיִן תּוֹסֵס “wine fermenting”. This may be an intrusion from a similar Babylonian baraita, Sanhedrin 70a.? As it was stated: Sour wine may be used to make an eruv¹⁶²If several houses share a common courtyard, the latter can be turned into common property to be available to all dwellers for use on the Sabbath by everyone donating food for a common meal, This is called eruv, “mixing”. If the inhabitants of a dead-end stret decide to turn their street into common property for Sabbath purposes, they have to install a symbolic door at the entrance to the street and prepare common food by “participating”. Cf. Demay 1:4, Notes 192, 193. and participating, one makes a benediction for it¹⁶³Before one drinks sour wine, one has to recite the benediction for wine, not vinegar (Mishnaiot Berakhot 6:1,3)., and one may use it for the preliminary marriage of a bride¹⁶⁴Cf. Demay 4:2, Note 19; Peah 6:2, Note 46; Yebamot 1:1, Note 63., for consoling the mourner¹⁶⁵The first meal of a mourner after the burial of a close relative must be given to him by others and it includes wine; cf. Berakhot 3:1, Notes 48,49,54; Babli Ketubot 8b, Sanhedrin 90a., and it may be sold in a store as wine. If somebody made an unqualified contract for wine, he did not sell sour wine¹⁶⁶On the wholesale level, sour wine has to be labelled as such. However, if an entire inventory was sold, the buyer must expect 10% of the barrels to contain sour wine (Mishnah Baba batra 6:1).. One is prohibited from delivering a decision, or to dissolve a vow, or to enter the Temple¹⁶⁷Lev. 10:8–11 forbids entering the Temple, officiating, and delivering any religious instruction to anybody who is still under the influence of any alcoholic beverage. Since sour wine contains alcohol, it disables as wine.. Only it is forbidden on the altar¹⁶⁸Mal. 1:8 declares sinful any offering on the altar which would not be received by the Pasha as a bribe.. And about the rebellious son it is problematic¹⁶⁹The rebellious son (Deut. 21:18–21) is not guilty unless he eats and drinks immoderately, including half a log of wine (2.7 dl) in one sip. It is undecided whether drinking almost-vinegar is drinking wine in this case. The Babli (Baba batra 96a) discusses whether smell or taste decide between wine and vinegar. It is obvious (Sanhedrin 70a) that grape juice does not qualify as wine in this respect..

If it had a defect. The verse says that they sacrifice defectives in pagan worship. If you present a blind one to be sacrificed, is there nothing bad¹⁵⁴Malachi1:8. If it had not been acceptable for the Gentiles, the Jews would not have thought of doing this.? This says that they sacrifice defectives in pagan worship.

Ulla bar Ismael: By law, it should not atone even if it was [not] known in public¹⁶⁹Babli 55a. There, Ulla explains that the sacrifice is not acceptable once the original owners have given up hope of recovery, since while abandonment makes a thing ownerless (Chapter 4, Note 88), ownership requires a conscious act of acquisition by the person in actual possession... Why did they say that it atones? Not to let the altar be deserted¹⁴⁵It is a sinful act to use any stolen or robbed animal as a sacrifice. If such a sacrifice would be declared invalid, no Cohen would volunteer to serve in the Temple for fear of unwittingly committing the sin of eating from an invalid sacrifice. Therefore, a sacrifice can be rejected only if it is known that it was obtained by illegal means.. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish¹⁷⁰In the Babli this is attributed to Rav Jehudah and it is explained that abandonment by the former owner makes the object the property of the person in possession. said, by law, it should atone even if it was known in public. Why did they say that it does not atone? Not to let the altar accept robberies. How many are “public”? Rebbi Gorion in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: Three people. Rebbi Abin in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: “You brought robbed goods with the lame and the sick.¹⁷¹Mal. 1:13.” Since lame and sick are obvious, so everything must be obvious.