A ger has the ability to make a kiddush Hashem that a Jew from birth cannot. A ger forsakes his family, his way of life, the world he knows. He chooses to abide by the Torah’s restrictions and responsibilities. He gives the rest of us a new appreciation for the beauty of Torah life that we sometimes take for granted.
We see a similar effect in baalei teshuvah. Like geirim, they abandon the world they know for Torah and mitzvos, perhaps giving up fame, fortune, or success. Alan Stuart Veingrad was a star football player whose team won the Super Bowl. He is now Shlomo Veingrad and lectures about his return to Yiddishkeit. Uri Zohar was a secular Israeli movie star. Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser was once a thrill-seeking surfer, climber, and skydiver; today he is a disciple of the Rebbe of Pinsk-Karlin. And there are many more.
Rambam points out that the Torah is even stricter about treating geirim than parents. We must honor and revere our parents, but nowhere in the Torah are we required to love them. The Torah instructs us, however, to “love the convert,” just as we are commanded to love Hashem Himself.
The navi Yeshaya teaches that in the era of Mashiach, a massive upheaval will take place. Klal Yisrael will no longer be despised and degraded, tormented and oppressed by the other nations. On the contrary, they will recognize that the Jewish people possess the most valuable commodities on earth—the Torah and mitzvos—and will flock to the Jews like a rushing river to absorb their teachings and gain closeness to the Shechinah (Yeshayah 2:2-3).
Reproduced from Living Kiddush Hashem by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
