Acharei Mot - Kedoshim - Shishi - #6 - Rabbi Reuvein Brand - Seeing Others Through Compassion

Welcome to our sixth Aliyah Shishi here in the double parsha of Achrei Mos and Kedoshim. The Aliyah begins by instructing us to be sensitive, to be aware of the fact that Gerim, converts, they come with an incredible aspiration, but they also have a lot of baggage and a lot of vulnerabilities. Lo sonu oso, there's a special mitzvah not to abuse a Ger. The Gemara says about matzias, you can't tell a Ger, "Oh, you remember what was it like before you were Jewish and you did that undignified thing?" That is an issue of the rice, so we have to be sensitive. Why? The Torah tells us because we were Gerim in Eretz Mitzrayim. We were Gerim. The Torah continues in this Aliyah, monay sedek and avnay sedek, we have to be honest in business. And then we have to be careful about something which we don't really relate to it so much today, but back in the day the Gemara says in Sanhedrin there was this strong draw for idol worship. Chazal tell us that they davened, the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah removed the desire for avodah zarah, but at one time that was so strong, it was so a drawing us to this this strange worship. We don't really understand it, but the Torah does tell us in conclusion of the Aliyah, v'hisqadishtem, we should be holy, v'hisam qadoshim ki qadosh ki qadosh ani Hashem Eloqeichem. We should pursue our holiness with HaKadosh Baruchu and not get involved in in all of these pagan pursuits. It could be that one day, a long time ago, paganism was the threat to the Jewish religion, but today the threat is really secularism and materialism. It's not avodah zarah per se, but it's another thing that could distract us. You notice, it's important to keep in mind that over 20 times the Torah reminds us, ki Gerim hayisem b'Eretz Mitzrayim. The way that we treat other people is because we have to remember what it was like. Rav Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, he notes, it's really interesting that HaKadosh Baruchu did not create Knesses Yisrael, did not form us as a nation in our own land, at home. We had to be formed as strangers in Mitzrayim. We had to be formed in the context of slavery. Why? So that we can understand and have this deep-seated appreciation for personal dignity, for kindness, for understanding what it means to be a stranger, to be someone who suffers. And therefore, over 20 times the Torah tells us we should remember the We know what it was like to be mistreated. So, Hakadosh Baruchu created us in such a fashion so that we have that sensitivity, so that we can treat others with kindness and compassion.