In Egypt, we became lonely strangers who experienced suffering and oppression. In the previous letter, we discussed how our collective memory of the Divine liberation – the Exodus from Egypt – is the root of our life-giving faith in Hashem, the Compassionate One. We also discussed how the story of our liberation brought life-giving hope to other suffering and oppressed people. In this letter, we will discuss how the Compassionate One desires that the very memory of our loneliness, suffering and oppression in Egypt should lead to life-giving empathy and justice for others who are lonely, suffering and/or oppressed:
The Torah is not just a collection of lofty ideals. It provides us with mitzvos which enable us to apply these ideals in our daily living. For example, the Torah provides us with mitzvos which call upon us to love and respect the “ger tzedek” – a stranger who joins our people through accepting the Covenant of Torah and its path of mitzvos. Rabbi Eliezer, a sage of the Talmud, states that there are thirty-six places in the Torah which speak about the proper treatment of a ger tzedek – the convert (Baba Metziah 59b).
Although there is a general mitzvah to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) – a mitzvah which includes loving the convert – there is also a specific mitzvah to love the convert. According to the Oral Tradition, the source for this mitzvah is in the following verse:
You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deut. 10:19)
The “Sefer HaChinuch” – a classical work on the Torah’s mitzvos – cites the tradition that the verse is speaking about a convert, and it states: “We were commanded to love converts, and we are not to make them suffer about anything whatsoever. Instead, we should do good for them and treat them with lovingkindness” (Mitzvah 431).
The Sefer HaChinuch also states that we can learn from this mitzvah the following ethical lesson regarding all strangers:
“It is for us to learn from this precious mitzvah to have compassion on any human being who is in a town or city that is not his birth place and the place of his family’s ancestors.”
The Sefer HaChinuch adds:
“Scripture alludes to the reason for this mandate by stating, ‘for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.’ It therefore reminds us that long ago we were scorched by that great pain that comes upon every person who sees himself among a strange people in a strange land. Remembering, then, the great anxiety of the heart that the matter entails, which we experienced in the past until Hashem in His lovingkindness took us out of there, we will be moved to have compassion for every human being who is so situated.” (Mitzvah 431)
The memory of our suffering in Egypt is also connected to the following mitzvos of justice and tzedakah – the sharing of our resources with those in need:
“You shall not pervert the justice due to a stranger or an orphan, and you shall not take the garment of a widow as security (for a loan). And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and Hashem, your God, redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.” (Deut. 24:17,18)
“When you beat your olive tree, do not remove all the splendor behind you; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not harvest the young grapes behind you; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, therefore I command you to do this.” (Deut. 24:20-22)
The Torah tries to awaken our empathy for the stranger, orphan, and widow by reminding us of the suffering that we experienced when we were slaves in Egypt. This is one of many indications within our Sacred Scriptures that the memory of our bondage in Egypt was deeply rooted in the consciousness of our people. Through the mitzvos of the Torah, we are to transform the memory of our painful experience in Egypt into life-giving empathy and justice for others.
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen – (See below)
A Related Teaching:
In the previous letter, we cited teachings on how the memory of our liberation from the bondage of Egypt leads to life-giving faith and hope. In this letter, we cited teachings on how the memory of our bondage in Egypt is to lead to life-giving empathy and justice. All these teachings can therefore give us a deeper understanding of the following passage from the Passover Haggadah that we chant on the night of the Seder:
“We were slaves unto Pharaoh in Egypt, and Hashem our God took us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. And if the Holy One, Blessed be He, had not taken our ancestors out of Egypt, then we, our children, and our children’s children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. Therefore, even if we were all wise, all understanding, all experienced, and all fully versed in the Torah, we would still be obligated to tell the story of the departure from Egypt; and whoever elaborates upon the story of the departure from Egypt is worthy of praise.” (Passover Haggadah – The beginning of the answer to the “Four Questions”)
“Then we, our children, and our children’s children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt.” – Without the uplifting and faith-giving experience of the Divine liberation which brought us to Mount Sinai, we would have remained spiritually enslaved to the pagan world view of the ancient Egyptians – a world view which suppresses the freedom to develop the higher potential within us as human beings created in the Divine image with the capacity to emulate on our own level the Divine compassion and concern.