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Wandering Jew: What is the halacha?

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SerbianPatriot89:
I was always interested in Jewish halachic law.Do you know what the Talmud and the Verbal Torah says about the phenomenon of the International Jew and the nomad Jew who is insisting on living anywhere but Israel?

muman613:

--- Quote from: SerbianPatriot89 on April 26, 2011, 12:13:36 PM ---I was always interested in Jewish halachic law.Do you know what the Talmud and the Verbal Torah says about the phenomenon of the International Jew and the nomad Jew who is insisting on living anywhere but Israel?

--- End quote ---

There is not anything like that... Basically we have two states, Galut/Exile and Geula/Redemption...

When Moshiach comes all Jews will be gathered into Israel... Until such time Jews can live in exile.

muman613:

--- Quote ---http://www.chabad.org/library/moshiach/article_cdo/aid/1157488/jewish/The-Basics.htm

What is galut?

Galut means exile. Nearly 2,000 years ago the Jewish nation was driven out of its homeland and sent off into a tear-soaked galut that lasts to this very day. We wait and yearn for the day when our galut and suffering come to an end, when we will be returned to the Holy Land, with the coming of our redeemer, the Moshiach.

Why are we in galut?

Galut is often described as a punishment for our own failings. But this is only part of the story. At the "Covenant Between the Parts" between G‑d and Abraham, at which it was first established that there was going to be a Jewish people, G‑d informed Abraham that his descendents will be strangers in a land that is not theirs. The galut of the Jewish people was ordained before there was a Jewish people.

Similarly, it is a common conception that the Messianic Era is primarily intended as an opportunity for G‑d to reward His people for the millennia of galut when they loyally struggled and toiled in His service. While this is certainly one of the reasons for the Redemption, it is not its ultimate objective.

The second verse of Genesis tells us that "the earth was astonishingly empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of G‑d was hovering over the face of the water." On this the Midrash comments, "'The spirit of G‑d'—this is the spirit of Moshiach." In other words, G‑d created light and dark—both physical light and dark as well as their metaphoric counterparts: Redemption and galut. And even before that time, He envisioned a time when the light will banish the dark. He envisioned the spirit of Moshiach.
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This is the underlying reason why over the course of the centuries our nation has been scattered to the four corners of the earth. The "sparks" of holiness embedded in creation were dispersed throughout the globe, necessitating a Jew to make a blessing over a cup of water in Shanghai, to put up a mezuzah in Uzbekistan, and use waters in Johannesburg as a mikvah. Today, with the globalization of the markets, this is even simpler: we can sit in the United States and light menorahs that are "Made in China"...

This is what the Redemption is all about—not some radical change in creation, but the uncovering of nature's truest self, accomplished though our sojourn in galut.

As of now, the effect we have on the objects that we elevate is concealed. When the Moshiach comes, our eyes will be opened and we will see the fruit of our millennia-long labor.

This is why, interestingly, the Hebrew word for Redemption, geulah, is constituted of the very same letters as the word for exile, golah, with only the added letter of aleph transforming the word from "exile" to "redemption." The aleph, which has a numerical value of one, represents the One Creator, whom we insert – reveal – in every component of creation, thus consequentially bringing the object to a state of redemption. With the cumulative revelation of the alephs within every component of creation, we bring the world as a whole to a redemptive state. A world wherein G‑d is revealed.

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Here we see what Rambam says about the Messianic age:


--- Quote ---http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/highlights-of-moshiach/08.htm

In the Rambam's Code we find a clear ruling pertaining to the order of events through Moshiach:[42]

"He will rebuild the Beis Hamikdash in its place and then will gather the ingathering of exiles."

It is known that the Rambam shows significance and meaning even in the order of his rulings, as is also seen in the beginning of this Chapter:[43]

"The King Moshiach will arise and will fully restore the Kingdom of David to its original esteemed sovereignty; then he will rebuild the Beis Hamikdash and will gather the remnants of Jews in exile."

No posek (Codifier) disagrees with this order and ruling. And the Halachic principle is[44] that wherever the Commentaries on Rambam do not disagree with him, it is proof that they agree with his ruling. In our case, this refers to the renowned Codifiers - Raavad, Kesef Mishneh, Radvaz, etc. (who show no disagreement with this ruling re: the order of Moshiach's activities).

Practical, legal rulings are found and authenticated only in the works of Poskim, and not in Midrashic or Talmudic sources. And Rambam is the classical authoritative Codifier, especially in the area of Moshiach.

As such, Moshiach will usher in the final end of exile and then will come the beginning of redemption, followed by the true and complete redemption. After this, Moshiach will bring the ingathering of the exiles to our homeland, Israel.
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muman613:
http://www.arachimusa.org/Index.asp?ArticleID=149&CategoryID=64&Page=2

THE WANDERING JEW

Q. Why are we called "Wandering Jews"?
        

A. The Jewish people became wanderers who went into exile after the destruction of the Holy Temples.  For seventy years, after the first Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E., the main center of Jewish population was in Babylonia.  With the destruction of the Second Temple, about 70 C.E., we again went into exile, this time for nearly two thousand years.  Over one half of the Jewish nation still lives in the Diaspora to this day.

The Bible clearly warns us that we will be expelled from our land as a consequence of failing to obey G-d's commandments.  Even the land itself suffered as a result of our misdeeds.  The Holy Land was bountiful and its inhabitants flourished while the Jews lived there.  With the exile, the Land of Israel became a desolate wasteland.

All this was predicted in advance:

And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And you, will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.    (Leviticus 26:32-33)                                        

This prophecy was fulfilled in its entirety.  Israel was densely populated in ancient times, and was famous for its fertility, so much so, that it was termed "a land flowing with milk and honey."  Even so, after the Second Temple was destroyed, the country was unexpectedly transformed into a desolate wilderness.  In this, the Land of Israel stands unique.  No other location on the face of the globe has such a history of rich fertility in ancient times, followed by barren desolation.

True, there were other nations ravaged by war, but no other country changed so drastically.  This fact was known to all the gentile neighbors of Israel, so much so, that they expressed their wonder:

Even all the nations shall say "Wherefore has the L-rd done thus unto this land? What is the heat of this great anger?"  (Deuteronomy 29:23)

 

The contrast was so striking that even the gentiles recognized the Hand of G-d, as the prophet states:

Then shall they know that I am the L-rd, when I have made the land most desolate, because of all their abominations which they have committed.   (Ezekiel 33:29)

It was obvious to one and all that the tragic transformation had been brought about by divine intervention.  There was no explanation in the realm of nature that could account for the striking changes in the country.

The gentiles asked: Where will the Jews go, now that their land is destroyed?  Will they establish themselves as a nation in some other part of the globe?  Will they be swallowed up by another nation?

The Torah answered their question, even before they asked it:

"And G-d will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other."   (Deuteronomy 28:30)

Even though they were destined to wander from one country to the other, the Jews would never become completely assimilated into their host nation.  In the Book of Esther, we find Haman's description of the nation that refused to blend in with all the others:

And Haman said unto King Ahasverus: 'There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it does not profit the king to tolerate them.  (Esther 3:8)

 

Other nations have been uprooted and displaced, but they then settled permanently in a new location. In contrast, the Jew has been tossed from one spot on the globe to another, over a period of nearly two thousand years.  History has no parallel to the repeated upheavals and migrations which have been the lot of the Jewish People.  This fate is the direct result of G-d's plan to rectify their shortcomings by letting them experience a period of exile.

The image of the itinerant Jew, constantly roaming to escape the wrath of the gentiles and their merciless schemes to deprive him of his hard earned property, if not his life, became firmly engrained in the mind of the gentile.

The desolation of the former Jewish homeland was also noted by the gentiles.  It appeared that just as the nomadic Jew longed for his homeland, so, too, did the devastated mountains and valleys mourn for the sons and daughters who had been banished into exile.

Over the generations, the Jewish people continued to dream of the day when they would again tread the soil of their beloved Holy Land, and its rich, precious soil would again yield its fruits to its returning sons.

This process of return and the restoration of the land to its former level of fertility and productiveness, testifies to G-d's supervision of the life of the Jewish people, as a loving father who watches continually over his beloved children.

muman613:
By the way, Jews never refer to the term 'Wandering Jew'... It was a derogatory title given to us by the Catholic church...


http://www.oztorah.com/2010/07/wandering-jew-ask-the-rabbi/

Q. What is the origin of the name, “Wandering Jew”?

A. There is a plant which bears the name Wandering Jew because it is has a tendency to spread. The name was probably given without conscious antisemitic malice. There is also a bird called Wandering Jew, and even a card game and a game of dice. However, in Christian legend there is certainly a mythical figure called the Wandering Jew who embodies anti-Jewish animus. The underlying notion is that the Jews are destined to wander and be reviled because they rejected Jesus.

The story takes many forms and its origin is likely to have had little if any specific connection with Jews. Not until the 13th century did it become a clearly antisemitic legend, often linked with the tradition that an officer of the high priesthood struck Jesus on the way to the cross and Jesus condemned him to suffer punishment until the so-called second coming (“You will go on forever until I return” is what Jesus is said to have told him). The Wandering Jew is said to be called Ahasuerus, the same name as the Persian king in the story of Mordechai and Esther. The Wandering Jew legend says that the Ahasuerus who struck Jesus was a Jerusalem shoemaker.

Centuries of anti-Jewish prejudice inexorably conditioned Christian communities to see the Jew as a pathetic sinner doomed by his rejection of Jesus. The Wandering Jew was given different names in different versions of the story and became the central character in a sheaf of poems, novels and artistic and musical works, though the tragedy of the Holocaust has largely discredited the notion. However, some fundamentalist Christian circles who hang on to the story find it hard to come to terms with the vitality, dignity and creativity of the Jewish people and the vibrancy of the State of Israel.


http://www.yeshiva.org.il/midrash/shiur.asp?id=10970

The same is true regarding more modern religions, as well. Before the founding of the State of Israel, Christians often "proved" their religion based upon the doctrine of the "wandering Jew", never to return to the Holy Land, as punishment, in their opinion, for our rejection of their god/messiah. Islam, as well, likes to see their successful military campaigns as proof that "god is Muslim". Contrarily, the formidable and independent State of Israel and Israeli army's trouncing our Islamic enemies, serve as theologically problematic, to say the least, for our "monotheistic competitors".

In a similar vein, the g'mara explains the reason we don't say hallel on Purim. 61 Despite the fact that Megilat Esther concludes with the Jews enjoying even superior status in Persia, 62 nevertheless, as long as we are under foreign rule, and "we are servants of Achashverosh", we are unable praise Hashem as if we are "servants of Hashem" (the opening phrase of hallel). Only one who has no other master, no division of loyalty between his nation and his G-d (note the case of Jonathan Pollard), can serve Hashem wholeheartedly. "Whoever lives in Eretz Yisrael is as if he has a G-d, and whoever lives in chutz laAretz, is as if he has no G-d, as it is written '…to give you the Land of Israel, to be your G-d". 63

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