Shnayim Yomi - Mishpatim - Shlishi - #3 - Rabbi Akiva Zweig - Be Mindful of Insecurities

Towards the end of the third aliyah in parasim, the Torah tells us any orphan and widow you shall not oppress, you shall not afflict them, cause them pain. Rashi tells us that even though the Torah says that this puk is talking about any orphan or any widow, really the law that prevents us from causing pain applies to all people, not only to an orphan and a widow. And Rashi says the reason the Torah tells us specifically an orphan or widow is to teach us that this is the normal thing that happens. People tend to oppress orphans and widows. That means the Torah is telling us about common circumstances that occur in normal everyday life. The question is the Torah needs to tell us that people take advantage of orphans and widows. Why does the Torah not simply say don't cause pain to any person any person don't give them pain? So I'd like to suggest that from here we understand why do people really take advantage of orphans and widows because they have insecurities. tragically they've lost their husband or lost their parents. And because of that vulnerability, people sometimes take advantage because they can make that vulnerability of the orphan or the widow work to their advantage to get the better business deal to not treat them carefully, whatever way that a person would take advantage of them. But the truth is what the Torah is really telling us is that whenever we take advantage of the vulnerability of another person, we are violating that law. So if we tell a skinny person, you're really fat, that's not an insecurity by them. But if we tell a fat person that they're fat, make them feel bad, and somehow take advantage of them and cause them that pain. So that's where we are violating an So the Torah telling us that this applies to an orphan or widow is not limiting it to an orphan or a widow. It's telling us that we as human beings have a tendency to take advantage of other people's insecurities and vulnerabilities and that is a terrible sin.