By Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort
CARLSBAD, California — We are in the midst of the story of the Exodus of our people, the Jewish people, from Egyptian servitude. This part of our collective history is rich in lessons that apply to our lives today. Many people mistakenly believe that the Torah is filled with ancient wisdom that applied to ancient times. They are actually half right. The Torah is our source of ancient wisdom, and indeed it applied in ancient times, but it also applies now. In fact, one can argue (as I often times do) that it applies now more than in the ‘olden days’, for people today can sometimes seem less and less in touch with our spiritual selves and less aware of our relationship with the Almighty.
In this Book we see how our people were enslaved by a cruel and oppressive nation. After having invited the Children of Israel, due to the immense blessings they brought with them and in gratitude for Joseph having saved the very nation, to settle in the land of Goshen, Pharaoh turns his erstwhile honored guests into despised and tortured slaves. Ultimately we know that this story had a happy ending, as the Jews were redeemed through a series of miracles, and the transformed nation merited to receive G-d’s wisdom, the Torah, on Mount Sinai.
Because of the horrific treatment the Jews received at the hands of their Egyptian hosts we find that in later times, when Jews would take possession of their Promised Land and establish a country of their own, Israel, they were commanded to love the foreigner in their midst. In fact, numerous times the Torah reiterates this important commandment. Why was it necessary to repeat this commandment? It was necessary to repeat because people have a propensity to mistreat those who are weak defenseless, and different, and we Jews, due to our own experiences, must know better.
This approach is a hallmark of Judaism itself. We treat guests of our people, and newcomers to our people (converts) with special kindness and warmth. There is, however, a very important caveat to this commandment that cannot be emphasized enough. When we welcome strangers into our midst it is NOT unconditional acceptance, no matter what may be heard in the halls of academia or on the six o’clock news. I have found some of the world’s biggest hypocrites frequent those ‘hallowed halls’, who are so discriminatory about who they let in and whose opinions they share.
Indeed, the Torah’s approach is supremely logical and safe. It requires the strangers who wish to be amongst us, either as Jews or as righteous gentiles, to agree to respect our laws, customs, and traditions. In other words, nowhere does the Torah tell us to welcome in a stranger who is hostile to us! In fact, nowhere does the Torah tell us to welcome in someone who is entirely ignorant of our ways (hoping for the best that when he/she learns about them he will be positively disposed towards us). Our security is the first consideration of the Torah. Our first obligation is to secure our own land and people – we NEVER risk our security for those from hostile backgrounds. When those who are hostile cease being hostile and want to join us, then we must love them with our full hearts – just as we must love our fellow Jews.
In these turbulent times moral clarity as defined by the Torah, is the order of the day. As Jews, it is our sacred obligation to be a ‘light unto the nations.’ That means that we must model Jewish ideals in our everyday lives and proactively expose the world to them as well. We do so with a pleasant and loving voice, for the ways of Torah are pleasantness and love. And where we see injustice, we must speak out clearly and strongly, always demanding justice!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is spiritual leader of Chabad at La Costa. He may be contacted via yeilfort@gmail.com