Emor 5771

True Law:

At the end of this week's parsha the pasuk says (24:22) "There will be one law for you, for the convert and the native it will be, because I am Hashem your God." Rashi comments the He is the God for everyone, just like He made His name special for us He also made it special for the converts.

It seems according to this pasuk that the reason one the native Jews and the converts share the same law is due to the fact that Hashem made His name special for all of us. But what does Hashem's name have to do with law?

A person may think that they can judge things based on their own morals. This pasuk teaches us that the law cannot be based solely on one's own morals, but it needs to involve God. A person can only judge based on his own biased opinion, but only Hashem knows what the true judgement should be and He judges based on truth.

If we remember that the only thing that makes us different from the rest of the world is that we were separated as Hashem's chosen people then that can guide us through life, to help us make the right choices. If this idea remains in your thoughts all day then the true law will be clear to you.

Another important point in this pasuk is that it shows us that there are two ways to be a Jew. The first way is to be born a Jew, the second is to choose to be a Jew. While those born Jewish may consider themselves better, being that they were always from the chosen people, this is not true. This pasuk clearly shows that a convert is considered equal in the eyes of Hashem to a native Jew. There is even a midrash that says that not only the souls of all of the generations of bnei yisrael were at Har Sinai, but even the souls of the converts. A convert is just a special as the rest of us.

Have a good Shabbat!