In the process of discussing the essential attributes for one to be worthy to receive the secrets of the Torah, the gemarah adds--almost as an aside--a statement of R. Ami that Torah should not be passed on to idol worshippers. R. Avi even has a nice proof-text, from Psalm 147, a familiar Pslam from pseukei dizmra. At first, I was tempted to read the statement as parallel to R. Ami's first statement, that is, regarding specifically the secrets of the Torah, but the switch from sitrei to divrei is clear, I think. According to R. Ami, non-Jews (for that is surely what is meant by the term ovdei cochavim) should not be taught Torah.
Given the later history of the Talmud's (the the Jewish people's) trials and tribulations on the basis of attacks brought forward by Jewish apostates, I can certainly see the logic here, even if that is not the specific concern of R. Ami. You simply don't want outsiders to see inside the chamber, or behind the curtain, and that is especially so when you are wont to say not-so-nice things about outsiders. But R. Ami could be talking about Torah, that is to say: the tanach. If that is so, I think the statement is extremely interesting, and does seem to show a clear lack of caring about "sharing the good news" to use a Christian idiom. I have always been told that Judaism is not a proselytizing religion, and then in rabbinical school I learned that this was at least partly so because the Roman Empire forbade it to be so. But statements like this fill out the picture: non-Jews are just not an area of concern particularly, except insofar as they impinge on Jewish areas. Teaching them Torah may bring them too close for comfort.
In any case, how do we think about statements like this today, in or multi-cultural, inter-faith kind of world?
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But this whole section seems to be about boundaries -- who merits learning Torah, the secrets of Torah and so on. Despite our Democratic tendency to open everything to everyone, something becomes more special and more important when it is accessed by fewer people. I see R Ami's statement here about emphasizing the sacredness of Torah by setting up boundaries around it.
What do we do about this today? I think that question already has a de facto. At least in our community, we teach Torah to whoever wants to learn it. Though the democratization of Torah is a good thing - both for Torah and for those who study it -- I worry sometimes that that openness, not necessarily just to non-Jews but in general, has decreased the sacredness of the text. If we teach in translation and encourage everyone to come up with their interpretation -- does it lose its specialness?
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