'''Ger toshav''' (pl. ''geirei toshav'', [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: גר תושב), according to [[Judaism]] and the [[Torah]], is a [[gentile]] who is a "resident alien," that is, one who lives in the [[Land of Israel]] under certain protections of the system, and is considered a righteous gentile.
==According to the Maimonides==
A Ger Toshav (Resident Alien) is a legal category of "Noahide" (i.e. a Righteous Gentile) which is __not applicable during the times of Jewish exile__. The Ger Toshav status is only applicable during a time when the 12 Jewish Tribes are ingathered and settled in their Biblically assigned territories. (In such times, the Yovel, or "Jubilee," years are able to be observed by the Jews - see Lev. 25:8-13.) Under these conditions, which will not return until the Messianic Redemption, by Torah Law a Gentile will be allowed to settle as a resident in the Holy Land if he/she appears before a Jewish court (Beis Din) and takes an oath before them that he or she will observe the Seven Noahide Laws with proper intent and faith. The court then grants this Gentile the visa status of "Ger Toshav," which includes certain additional legal privileges.
#To uphold all the [[613 Mitzvot]], except for the eating of non-[[Kosher]] meat.
The definition used by all authorities is the second. In all cases, the statement is a formal sign that the gentile is on a righteous path, and as such, they must by law receive certain legal protections and special charity/financial aid from the community.
Against this is quoted: ‘Who is a ger toshav? Any [gentile] who takes upon himself in the presence of three chaverim not to worship idols. Such is the statement of R. Meir; but the Sages declare: Any [gentile] who takes upon himself the sheva mitzvot which the sons of Noach undertook; and still others maintain: These do not come within the category of ager toshav; but who is a ger toshav? A proselyte [גר ger, i.e. non-Jew] who eats of animals not ritually slaughtered (nevelos). In other words, he took upon himself to observe all the precepts mentioned in the Torah apart from the prohibition of [eating the flesh of] animals not ritually slaughtered (nevelos). We may leave such a man alone with wine [i.e., he is not considered an idolater].”
The second kind of Ger Toshav is an informal one, namely someone who has not sworn anything to a Beth Din (Avodah Zarah 65a). In this case, they are not formally entitled to financial aid by law, but the attitude of a religious Jew to someone who has forgone idolatry is supposed to be much more welcoming (from the perspective of Jewish law) than to someone who has not. Furthermore, the restrictions that pertain to an idolater (in terms of business and doing things that might be aiding idol worship) are forgone.
