Oral Law Assignment- Madison Holt

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I chose verse 33, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens, you shall love him as yourself...” (Leviticus 19.33), because everyone needs a little reminder of this. We were all once wanders looking for a new place to settle in, so we must show compassion and welcome all immigrants. I think this Mitzvah can even be applied to a smaller scale, such as summer camp. I’ve been going to summer camp for the past 8 summers and every year there are new kids. When you get older in camp there are less new kids and many returning friend groups, which can be really intimidating for first-year campers. This past summer, there was only one new kid on my trip, and he went on the trip only knowing one person. At first, it was really hard for him to find his place and become comfortable, but from day one I introduced him to my friends and tried to find times in the day to just listen to what he had to say. There definitely were some kids who did not follow this mitzvah and were incredibly exclusive, which I just didn’t understand. I don’t understand why it was so hard for them just to be nice, to simply say hi when he walked by. You never know when you will be in this boy's situation, so they should’ve treated him the way they would’ve liked to be treated, they should've loved him as themselves.

I couldn’t find the exact image I wanted, but this is what I think of when I hear this commandment. Except there should be one change, people should not close off the circle, but leave room for anyone to join. Someone is less likely to join a closed circle, and therefore you are not following this commandment. An open circle is much more welcoming and less intimidating for someone who is not that close with you to join. It takes one readjustment of your body to follow this commandment. It really does not ask a lot, but it has extreme impact on the person you are welcoming in. At some point in your life, or even many, you will be in the place of the traveller or immigrant, hoping that someone will invite you into their circle. So just remind yourself of this mitzvah, and remember how much it can impact another person's life