Oral Law Assignment

The mitzvah I chose is verse 14, "You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the Lord." I think that this verse is really important literally, meaning that we should not literally place any physical obstacle in front of someone who is physically handicapped or insult those who are different than we are. However, I also think that this mitzvah can be deeper metaphorically. I think that in our society, many people are seen as outcasts or are treated poorly because they are different. If someone in the community is already struggling with an aspect of their life- whether that be physical, emotional, or mental- should not be given more obstacles from society. It is so easy to look at people who are suffering and cause them even more emotional pain, even if we don't mean to. This mitzvah is telling us that as a community, it is our job to make sure that someone who is less fortunate than others does not deserve to have their burden made even heavier just because they may seem different to us. I personally think that this is really important. I think that even in our modern society today, many people who are less fortunate are taken advantage of and seen as not as important to society, and therefore have many of their rights taken away. The injustice in this situation is clear: those who are already finding themselves in difficult situations should not be made to feel even worse by those around them. As Jews, it is our job to carry out this mitzvah and ensure that those in our society who are struggling are able to find their way without any literal or metaphorical obstacles in their path.

One of the things about this situation that I feel strongly against is the fact that many homeless people in America are unable to vote. The picture above depicts a man sitting on the street as people walk by (it is implied that the man is homeless.) This picture reminds me of the fact that even though every citizen in America is given the legal right to vote, there still remains many "obstacles" that stand in the way of these people being able to choose their leaders in government. This pertains especially to people who have moved out of their homes because of domestic violence issues, etc. who don't have a way of registering to vote under a specific home address. These are people in our society who are already struggling to survive, feed their families, and live free lives, but are unable to participate in the democratic process because of their situation. This is making a bad situation worse for people in our community who are already in a tough situation. In this case, putting a stumbling block in front of the blind means that people are stripped of their human rights, showing exactly why this mitzvah is so important.