Oral Law Assignment





"The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 19.34)

The mitzvah I chose to interpret for this assignment is from Leviticus 19, Verse 34. I believe that this is one of the most important mitzvot because this is incorporated into daily life for nearly every person. For me, this is also a mitzvah that is especially difficult for me because I have a hard time making friends and talking to new people. To have to have the courage to do something new and to put yourself out there is one of the most daunting things someone can do, so if everybody lives by this mitvah, it can make it that much bearable. To accept and try to befriend others is one of the most helpful acts that someone can do, because you never know how hard it might have been for someone to join a new activity or to travel somewhere new. 

The above picture is of my swim sister and I in our sophomore year right before a swim meet. I chose this photo because to me, it's a symbol of belonging and how close I became to people who were previously strangers to me. Allie and I didn't get along at all before freshman year, but now she is one of my bestfriends and someone I look to for help or advice. My swim family is everything to me back in NA,MA because it is the one group at my school that completely respects every teammate. We are the smallest and most underfunded team at our school, but we love and support everyone on the team, and eventually become a new and improved family every season. This directly relates to the mitzvah I chose because we were totally new in our sport, but because we treated each other with respect and befriended each other, we became close friends. 

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