What exactly is a Ger Tsedek?

First things first. There is a common misconception that the words "Ger Tsedek" mean in English, "Righteous Convert". Not so. This is a mistranslation.

The word "Ger" in the Torah means (according to Jastrow):

• a dweller (see Shabbat 104a)
and

• a stranger, especially a proselyte, a convert to Judaism (see Yevamot 46b; Berakhot 47b)

The first definition allows for persons who have no interest in the religion per se, as in the example of a Ger Toshav, a person who wants to live among the Jewish people in the land of Israel, and so renounces idolatry and keeps the seven Noahide commandments. He or she gets citizenship in the land of Israel, and of course is not obligated to keep 613 mitsvot. (This status is not in effect today, by the way — as far as I know.)

Jastrow also mentions a Ger Me'husar Kaparah, a proselyte who has not yet offered the korban that he is required to offer. I assume we converts are all technically in this category. I don't know what the ramifications are, but I have not knowingly encountered any in my own life. I seem to have the full rights, privileges, and obligations of a naturally born Jew.

Hey, wait! Maybe that's why I'm not allowed to marry a Syrian or Mashadi Persian girl! They're waiting for a korban!

Jastrow also lists the categories of gerei sheker, those who convert with impure motives, and gerei arayot, "lion converts", those who are converting out of fear. These and other cases are interesting, but we will not go into them now.

What I want to explain here is the grammar of the term "Ger Tsedek". "Tsedek" is a noun, which means "righteousness" or "justice". We view the Torah law as the ultimate expression of such.

The word "Tsadik" in Hebrew is an adjective meaning "righteous" or "just". (It also has a nominative function, but for now I'm explaining the misconception.) Thus, if you wanted to say a "righteous sojourner", you might indeed say "Ger Tsadik".... Which is not proper terminology in the Jewish tradition.

This is not to cast aspersions on fellow blogger Ger Tzadik, who is presumably making a play on words. (I discovered him only recently, and plan to make a full study of his blog in the near future.)

In Hebrew grammar there is the concept of "semikhut" or juxtaposition. The easiest way to express this would be to show that we do the same thing in English. String two or three nouns together, and the first one becomes a modifier for the second one, and so on:

humanities department
Israel Defense Forces
soda bottle
world mask

Whereas adjectives work the other way around: place the adjective first, and the noun second:

international economy
dull lecture
meticulous detail
Great Britain
Holy Roman Empire

In Hebrew, the order of adjectives is opposite what it normally is in English, as in that last example. But juxtaposed modifying nouns come first:

Beit Knesset: "House of assembly", i.e. a synagogue.
Melekh Yisrael: "The king of Israel"
Beit Din Tsedek: "A court of justice"
Sifrei Kodesh: "Books of that which is Holy"

and finally:

Ger Tsedek: "A convert of righteousness"

Meaning this. It is not that the person himself or herself is inherently righteous or just. That may be true, but it takes work. The concept that they converted to, that which they chose as a definition of their life's guiding principle, is righteousness: tsedek.