May 31, 2006
Conversion, Covenant and Commandments: Maimonides on Joining Yisrael
At the conclusion of our last discussion of conversion, we saw that Maimonides' approach to the essence of conversion was strikingly different from that of the Talmud's. What I'd like to show in this post is that Maimonides did not actually feel he was restating the gemara's position in anyway; rather, he felt he was clarifying it. This is going to be long, but, I promise, will be worth it. If you don't like reading things online, I would suggest printing out this post and reading it on Shavuos, as it is very, very apropos to the themes of the day.
As you may recall, the purported point of contention between Maimonides and the Talmud seemed to be an issue of praxis vs. doxis; Maimonides refocused the conversion process to concentrate on issues of belief, ikkarei ha'das, rather than practical religious observance. But a quick review of the gemara in Yevamos shows that this is not the case. What is the intention of the gemara in stating that one teach a potential proselyte, "a few stringent commandments, and a few easy commandments?" It cannot be that we are attempting to give the convert a crash course in halacha, in order to provide him with practical knowledge to help his everyday life; what good would an assortment of legal tidbits do him in his new day-to-day life. Rather, it must be that we are attempting to expose him to the concepts behind the commandments (for lack of a better term, the haskafas haTorah). By relating to him a few critical commandments, along with a few non-critical ones, we are showing him the breadth of Torah, and how it relates to ones life in various ways. A further proof to this is the continuation of the gemara: the "sin of leket, shicha and pe'ah" as well as the other tenets mentioned, are all not to explain those commandments in particular, but to illustrate some conceptual idea of Judaism (such as kindness, justice, etc.) that the proselyte may be unfamiliar with before converting.
With this approach, the Rambam can be seen as continuing the ideas laid out in the Talmud, rather than opposing them. Maimonides reformulation is not an attempt to shift the focus of conversion (and, by extension, Judaism) from praxis to doxis; instead, Maimonides is simply expanding upon the formulation dictated in the Talmud with, what was in his mind, the contemporary content of the essense of Judaism. The common claim that the Talmud does not legislate matters of belief is misguided: in Talmudic times, the characterization of halacha was such that the beliefs underlied the practical rulings. As time went on, and Greek thought progressed and spread to the Jewish communities, Chazal were forced to more directly confront issues of belief (hence, the statements in Chapter 10 of Sanhedrin). Maimonides felt that, in his day, these matters of belief were clearly settled and delineated, to the point that the conversion process should be modified to better coincide with it's actual intention, namely to convey the foundations of Judaism to the convert.
All this is well and good, but here's where it gets exciting.
When it comes to the ikkarei ha'das, what does Maimonides quote? One would think that he would detail all of his thirteen "fundamentals of faith." Why, then, are only two fundamentals listed in the Mishneh Torah (Maimonides uses very definite language: "...the fundamentals of our religion, which are the oneness of the Name and prohibition against idol woship," which would preclude us from assuming he meant the others by extension). To fully understand this, we need to take a closer look at how Maimonides details the laws of conversion.
Chapter 13 of the Mishneh Torah's "Laws of Forbidden Relations" begins: "How does a Yisrael enter into the Covenant?" Note, this is NOT talking about conversion. Maimonides begins by detailing how the Jews, after the exodus from Egypt, became part of the bris. The three prerequisites are: circumcision, immersion and the bringing of a sacrifice (based on Krisos 6A). Only after detailing the how the Jewish people originally entered into the covenant does Maimonides then turn to the issue of conversion of proselytes: "And so throughout the generations, when a non-Jew wishes to enter into the covenant, and find solace under the wings of His Presence, and accept upon himself the yoke of the Torah: he requires these circumsion, immersion and a sacrifice."
Where did Maimonides (and the Talmud, for that matter) come up with these three requirements for conversion? The sources detailed in the gemara and in the Mishneh Torah make it clear, along with the connection to all of Yisrael entering the bris: at Har Sinai, at Matan Torah.
But why, then, does Maimonides seperate the process of conversion (Chpater 14) from the prerequisites for conversion (Chapter 13)? Here is where we can finally understand Maimonides unique interpretation of the gemara, and the connection between conversion and Matan Torah. Matan Torah, to Maimonides, was more than a simple giving of the Torah; it was the Jews entering into the covenant with God, accepting the yoke of the Torah, effectively converting. The process Maimonides lays out in Chapter 14 is nothing less than a recreation of Matan Torah. Recall the famous statement of Maimonides that the first two of the Aseres HaDibros were heard by all the people:
The Israelites heard the first and the second commandments from God, i.e., they learnt the truth of the principles contained in these two commandments in the same manner as Moses, and not through Moses. For these two principles, the existence of God and His Unity can be arrived at by means of reasoning, and whatever can be established by proof is known by the prophet in the same way as by any other person; he has no advantage in this respect. These two principles were not known through prophecy alone.”
Maimonides alters the conversion process as detailed by the Talmud to more closely resemble the revelation on Har Sinai! The ikkarei ha'das that are mentioned are the very same (Anochi and Lo Yihyeh) that the Jews heard directly from God at the mountain!
This has profound implications for how we view conversion. It is not, as we commonly perceive it, a process by which one "converts" to another nationality or race or religion. Rather, it is a process by which one joins the covenant by recreating the revelation at Sinai. The prerequisites for conversion are circumcision, immersion and sacrifice; without these, the act of conversion does not take affect. But the common conception that "kabalas hamitzvos," acceptance of the commandments, is a prerequisite for conversion, is, according to Maimonides, a misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of conversion. In Maimonides formulation, acceptance of the commandments, entering into the covenant, that IS the conversion. The process that Maimonides lays out essentially walks one through a recreation of the revelation at Sinai, where God introduced his Law to the Jewish people (the subsequent 8 commandments are viewed as the "miktzas chamuros v'kalos). That is why Maimonides splits up the laws pertaining to the prerequisites for conversion, and the actual process of conversion itself.
[It should be pointed out that the traditional statement that, once converted, if a proselyte returns to his former ways, even right away, he is considered a mumar, but still a Jew, makes sense. Acceptance of the commandments is not a prerequisite of conversion, rather, in Maimonides estimation, it is what you are signing up for! If you then choose to turn your back, that is a seperate issue.]
In summary, we've seen how Maimonides reformulation of the Talmud's process of conversion does not in fact point to a bias towards doxis over praxis; rather, it gives us deeper insight into the connection between conversion, covenant and what it means to become a Jew. Since Maimonides formulation seems to have been accepted by the Shulchan Aruch, this raises interesting questions regarding how we view converison nowadays. And regarding Shavuos, this helps give a better understanding of what we are really commemorating with the holiday. Shavuos is not a holiday that celebrates limud haTorah, but rather a celebration of the covenant between God and Yisrael. We learn not for the sake of learning, but to famliarize ourselves with God's ways, and to understand His love, justice and truth, so that we can recommit ourselves to our responsibilties.
