Do Not Oppress the Stranger for You Were Strangers

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 23:9

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And you shall not oppress a stranger" (Exodus 23:9). Rabbi Eliezer said: Why did the Torah warn concerning the stranger in some thirty-six places? Because his inclination is bad — lest he return to his former ways [his prior corruption]. "For you were strangers" — from here Rabbi Eliezer said: the blemish that is in you, do not speak of in your fellow. (Note: the manuscript names the first speaker as Rabbi Levi or Rabbi Eliezer; reading uncertain.)

Themes

ConversionEthicsCommandments

Continue Reading

Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelYour Sojourner in Your Gates This Is a Ger TzedekThe Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael turns to the phrase "and your sojourner in your gates" from the Shabbat (the Sabbath) commandment and asks: which type of sojourneMekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelThe Convert's Vulnerability Mirrors Israel's Own Historical Experience(Exodus 22:20) commands: "And a stranger you shall not afflict and you shall not oppress him." The Mekhilta identifies two distinct prohibitions within this verMekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelBeloved are the strangers, for in many places you areBeloved are the strangers, the converts to Judaism. The Mekhilta emphasizes how many times the Torah exhorts Israel to treat them well. "And a stranger you shalMekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiThe Mixed Multitude and the Great Herds That Went Up From EgyptIsrael did not leave Egypt alone. The Mekhilta says a great mixed multitude went up with them, converts and freed slaves who threw in their lot with the redeemePesikta RabbatiThe Red Heifer Statute and the Ox That Knew Its MakerThe portion of the red heifer opens with the word "statute," the kind of law whose reason stays hidden. The midrash frames it with two stories about animals andYalkut Shimoni on TorahOne Torah Binds the Convert to the Native in Every CommandmentThe Torah seems to repeat itself. First it promises that a convert who joins Israel "shall be as one born in the land," and then it adds, "One law shall there b