Rabbi Okays Renting Apartments To Arabs

Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parashath Miqeitz/Hanukkah 5771

Rabbi Okays Renting Apartments To Arabs

Following rabbinical ruling against renting out flats to Arabs or migrant workers, head of Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva says 'Jewish sovereignty cannot exist without caring for foreigners living among us'

Kobi Nahshoni, 11.28.10 / YNET: Israel Jewish Scene

Renting out apartments to Arabs has been forbidden by Safed's rabbis, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has also pointed out that it is forbidden, and many other rabbis remain sheepishly silent on grounds of political correctness and admit that "there is nothing to be done, this is halachic law".

One person who disagrees with these rabbis is the head of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva, Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, who states that "it is right and correct prefer renting out apartments within our own nation, but it is not right to ban renting out apartments to Arabs." (Read more...)

Granted, the likes of YNET news media enjoy creating, and emphasizing mahloqoth (disagreements) between groups of religious Jews. Granted, Rabbi Sherlo's sources are not presented in this article for scrutiny.

Nonetheless, the "halachic" opinion of this Head of the Petah Tiqwah Hesder Yeshiva makes no sense whatsoever.

Caring for the stranger? First off, the status of ger toshav (resident stranger), is reserved for only for those non-Jews accepting upon themselves , and only during the time when the misswah (commandment) of Yovel (Jubilee Year) is in effect.

There is an opinion that Muslims would qualify for this status. However, that opinion was from 500 years ago. Certainly, today, their countless murders of Jews, and their lack of justice to punish and to prevent such murders would disqualify them from the status of B'nei No'ah, the precursor status for Ger Toshav status.

רמב"ם הלכות עבודה זרה פרק י
ד [ג] אין מוכרין להם בתים ושדות, בארץ ישראל; ובסוריה, מוכרין להם בתים, אבל לא שדות. ומשכירין להם בתים בארץ ישראל, ובלבד שלא יעשם שכונה--ואין שכונה, פחותה משלושה. ואין משכירין להם שדות; ובסוריה, משכירין להם שדות. ומפני מה החמירו בשדה: מפני שיש בה שתיים--מפקיעה מן המעשרות, ונותן להם חניה בקרקע

Ramba"m: Laws of Foreign Worship 10
4 [3] One does not sell them houses or fields in Eretz Yisrael; but in Suriyah one may sell them houses, but not fields. One may rent them houses in Eretz Yisrael, provided that one does not make them a neighborhood -- and there is no neighborhood with less than three [households]. One does not rent them fields; but in Suriyah one rents them fields. And why were they strict regarding fields? For two reasons -- [because they would] expropriate the tithes and be allowed to settle the land.

The above "do not make a covenant with practicioners of foreign worship" stems from the negative commandment "do not have mercy on them."

דברים ז,ב ונתנם יהוה אלהיך, לפניך--והכיתם: החרם תחרים אתם, לא-תכרת להם ברית ולא תחנם

Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them.

In any event, caring for the stranger" who wants to kill us is not a misswah, quite the opposite, in fact. According to the Ramba"m, Muslims are not [technically] ovdei avodah zarah. Nonetheless, Arabs would further be disqualified from B'nei No'ah status, due to their lack of acceptance of the entire Torah as truth. Furthermore, the halachah does not distinguish between individual members of an enemy people, in a milhemeth misswah (obligatory war).

Rabbi Sherlo's logic completely escapes me. Perhaps, if his sources when his sources become available to me, I would form a different opinion. But, that seems highly unlikely.

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Please also read More On Renting To Arabs.

For additional information on these negative commandments, you can download the audio shi'urim given by Rabbi David Bar-Hayim, part 1 and part 2.