פרשת קדושים תש"ח - אונאת גר

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.

If a convert dwells with you is mentioned after the elderly. Just as Scripture has admonished you to honor an elderly Israelite though he has no power, so does it admonish you regarding a convert, who also has little power compared to you (perhaps he is considered powerless simply because he resides in your land, under your dominion).

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.

MISHNA: Just as there is a prohibition against exploitation [ona’a] in buying and selling, so is there ona’a in statements, i.e., verbal mistreatment. The mishna proceeds to cite examples of verbal mistreatment. One may not say to a seller: For how much are you selling this item, if he does not wish to purchase it. He thereby upsets the seller when the deal fails to materialize. The mishna lists other examples: If one is a penitent, another may not say to him: Remember your earlier deeds. If one is the child of converts, another may not say to him: Remember the deeds of your ancestors, as it is stated: “And a convert shall you neither mistreat, nor shall you oppress him” (Exodus 22:20).

לא תונו [AND IF A STRANGER SOJOURN WITH THEE IN THY LAND], YE SHALL NOT VEX HIM — This implies vexing him with words (cf. Rashi on Exodus 22:20) — do not say to him, “Yesterday you were an idolator and now you come to study the Torah which was given from the mouth of the Almighty!” (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 8 2; Bava Metzia 58b, 59b.)

ולא תונו איש את עמיתו YE SHALL NOT THEREFORE BE EXTORTIONATE TO ONE ANOTHER — Here Scripture warns against vexing by words (wounding a person’s feelings) — that one should not annoy his fellow-man, nor give him an advice which is unfitted for him, but is in accordance with the plan and the advantage of the adviser. But lest you should say, “Who knows whether I had any intention to do him evil?” Scripture therefore states: “but thou shalt fear thy God”! — He Who knows men’s thoughts, He knows it! In all cases where it is a matter of conscience (more lit., a matter handed over to the heart), when noone knows the truth except the one who has the thought in his heart, Scripture always states: “but be afraid of thy God”! (Sifra, Behar, Chapter 4 1-2; Bava Metzia 58b; cf. also Rashi on Leviticus 19:14.)

The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

כי גרים הייתם FOR YE WERE STRANGERS [IN THE LAND OF EGYPT] — "Do not reproach thy fellow-man for a fault which is also thine” (cf. Rashi on Exodus 22:20).

The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

And a stranger – once the stranger accepts not to worship idolatry, you cannot oppress him in your country/land, because you are more powerful than him. And remember! You were strangers like him. And the same way that the text reminds you that the stranger does not have power, so too the widow and the orphans, who are Israelites, have no power. And after the text says you shall not wrong, it uses the plural form, but then it says if you do wrong them, uses the singular. This is because whoever sees a person oppressing an orphan or a widow and does not help the orphan and the widow, he too is considered as an oppressor. You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. Widows and orphans, like strangers, are in a disadvantaged position relative to other citizens.

For you were strangers in the land of Egypt: Not all strangers are made fitting [for special treatment just] because we were strangers in [one] land for a time. And there is no reason that they should be assured [of this treatment] forever because of this. And Rashi on Exodus 22:20 explained that it is the reason why "you should not oppress him with words [...], for if you oppress him, he can oppress you [also] by saying to you, 'You also come from strangers' - [regarding] a blemish in you, do not speak about it in your fellow." And Rabbi Avraham (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 22:20) said, "Remember that you were strangers like him." But there is no fundamental explanation in all this. And that which is correct in my eyes is that when it states, "do not oppress the stranger and do not harry him," you should think that he has no one to save him from your hand, since you know that you were strangers in the land of Egypt, and you saw the harrying that Egypt harried you and that I took vengeance for you, 'since I see the tear of the oppressed who has no comforter and has no power from the hand of their oppressors' and I save every person 'from the hand of one stronger than he.' And so [too], do not afflict the widow and the orphan, since I hear their cries. As all of these do not rely on themselves and [so] upon Me do they rely. And in a different verse, it adds another reason (Exodus 23:9), "and you know the soul of a stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt." This is to say, you know that the soul of any stranger is lowly towards himself, and he sighs and cries, and his eyes are always to God - and He will have mercy upon him, as He had mercy upon you, as it is written (Exodus 2:23), "and the Children of Israel sighed from the work and they cried out, and their prayer ascended to God, from the work." This is to say that not because of their merit [did God hear], but rather He had mercy upon them due to their [heavy] work.

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.