In this week's parsha Avraham Avinu wants to buy a burial plot for Sara. He says, "ger vitoshav anochi imachem" "I am a stranger and a resident amongst you". This is a strange self-definition. There appears to be an internal contradiction.

A ‘stranger’ implies a foreigner, an outsider and a ‘resident’ implies someone who is there, who belongs, who lives there. Which one is it? Many meforshim deal with this question (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, and more).

Rav Soloveitchik zt”l once developed the following idea[i]. Avraham Avinu was describing the dual nature of a Jew's existence in the secular world. This self description of Avraham Avinu, the Rav explained, applies to all those who live in the Western world.

Avraham Avinu was saying that on the one hand he is a resident; he is a part of the Canaanite society. He is concerned with the economic development of society. And he supports this development by digging wells. He is concerned with proper social development, and that is expressed through all the chesed which he does, helping people. He is a resident, he is a citizen. He is part of the country. And when it comes to the economic, technological, and social development, he is one of them.

However, Avraham Avinu was explaining, he is also a stranger. When it comes to anything religious, anything spiritual, any question of moral values, he is a stranger, h he is different. He has his own set of rules, his own set of values, based on the commands and Will of Hashem. Avraham Avinu was explaining that despite the fact that he is a citizen, he is different. Burying Sara is a religious spiritual activity. Avraham was saying

‘I have my own rules and regulations. I have my own way of doing things, I am different.’

So Avraham Avinu was explaining why he needs to buy a burial plot for Sara, because this is a moral, spiritual, religious issue. And in order to explain that, he defined himself as a ger as well, as a foreigner.

This applies to all of us. Take, for example, a person who lives in the United States. On the one hand he is a citizen. He is concerned about the economic welfare of society, he wants there to be a good transportation system, good economic system, he votes in the elections[ii].

 A Jew is a citizen of the United States. However, a Jew has to remember that at the same time, and more importantly, he is a ger, a stranger, as well. When it comes to religious and spiritual issues, he is different. He has his own set of values. A Jew is not supposed to learn from the secular world anything about his spiritual and religious values. We have the Shulchan Aruch, the Rambam, and the Mesillas Yesharim. These are our guides for our spiritual lives. This is one of the greatest challenges Jews face living in the Western world. We have to maintain our own set of values and not be influenced by the trends of the outside world. We have to always remember as we go through life in the outside world that our status as a ger is primary, and it has to govern our actions[iii].

[i]I heard this idea from several of my Rabbonim, and it is also printed in Reflections of the Rav Vol.1. 

[ii]Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l would vote in the elections. It says in one of the biographies that he would even vote in the primaries.

[iii] One example of this is how people spend their leisure time after a day in the office. It is common in the secular world that after a hard day at the office people go to a bar   to relax and to drink. That is not what a Torah Jew is supposed to do. People need to relax, that's correct.  A Torah Jew has to find a different way to relax after a hard day at the office. He should preferably be relaxing at home, with his family. Or he can send time with his (shtark) friends from yeshiva. And if for some reason that is not a viable option, he shouldn't be doing it at a bar with the other members of his office. My Rebbi Rav Willing shli”ta is very against drinking. He often says

‘Don't drink period. But, if you are going to drink, do not drink together with your non-Jewish colleagues. It's a terrible idea.’

A person who feels that he has to relax in the same way that people in the general secular world do, that's an example where the toshav part of life is having too much influence over the ger part. We have to remember, "ger vitoshav anochi imachem". I'm a stranger first, that's my priority.

This Dvar Torah fits with the previous one. A person who lives his spiritual life based on the Torah will be respected by his colleagues and will make Hashem’s presence felt more in the world.