It states in this week's parashah (10:19) מ ִצְר ָיִם בְּאֶרֶץ הֱיִיתֶם גֵרִים כִּי ה ַגֵּר אֶת וַאֲה ַבְת ֶּם, "You shall love the ger, because you were geirim, strangers, in the land of Mitzrayim." The simple meaning of this pasuk is to love all geirim, those who converted to Yiddishkeit. However, the Chinuch (mitzvah 431) says that included in this mitzvah is to love all people who feel like a גֵּר, a stranger, and to be מקרב them, and to help them feel at home in their new surroundings.
The Chinuch writes, "This teaches us the great obligation to be mekarev everyone who feels like a נכריה בארץ גר, a stranger in a foreign land. We must be mekarev him with both hands and help him until he feels like he is an equal resident like all the others. We learn from this precious mitzvah to have compassion for a person who is new to a city. When we do so, Hashem will have compassion on us, and Heaven's brachos will come upon us. מ ִצְר ָיִם בְּאֶרֶץ הֱיִיתֶם גֵרִים כִּי, "You were geirim in Mitzrayim." We have already felt the great pain of being among people we don't know, in a foreign land. Thereby, we can remind ourselves of the great distress foreigners feel... and we should have compassion on them..."
There are many situations where we can perform this mitzvah. If someone new comes to your beis medresh, and he doesn't know the people around him, or the schedule, and he doesn't know precisely what is expected from him, it is a mitzvah to befriend him so that he won't feel alone. Another opportunity to perform this mitzvah is when someone moves into your neighborhood, or the house next door to yours. He wants to feel at home and not feel like a stranger. You will do a great mitzvah if you help him feel welcome.
In a yeshiva, every year, new young bachurim join the yeshiva. The bachurim in the grades above should greet the new students with happiness.
Story 1: There is an organization in Queens, New York, called Hashiveinu. With devotion and effort, they help bachurim return to the path of Torah and mitzvos. Once, a renowned rosh yeshiva brought his youngest son to Hashiveinu. With tears in his eyes, this renowned rosh yeshiva asked the director of Hashiveinu to help his son return to the path of Torah. The director welcomed the bachur and promised to do what he could to help him. Indeed, in a short time, the bachur returned to the path of Torah, to the great relief and joy of his father.
The day the bachur was accepted into Hashiveinu, the director told the rosh yeshiva, "I will help your son, but on condition that you first listen to my personal story. I grew up in an area that didn’t have a good cheder. When I became older and went to a yeshiva to study Torah, I was behind all the other bachurim, and I couldn’t keep up with the studies. I approached one of the good bachurim and asked him to make time to learn with me, so I could understand what was going on. The bachur responded that he didn’t have time for me. He was busy reviewing hilchos Shabbos, and couldn’t take on new projects. I went to another bachur, and his response was similar. I was devastated; doesn't anyone have time for me? I decided that I would ask just one more bachur. If he also refuses to help me, I will take that as a sign that yeshiva isn't for me, and I will leave. Do you know who I went to? The person I went to was you! I asked you to learn with me. You smiled welcomingly, and you said you would be glad to learn with me. After learning with you for a short time, I was able to study well in the yeshiva. You did me this favor, and now I will return the favor and do the same for your son."
As the saying goes, what you do for others, you do for yourself. When the bachur in the yeshiva agreed to learn with another struggling bachur, he thought he was helping that bachur, when actually, he was helping himself. Years later, the bachur he helped would become the director of Hashiveinu and be instrumental in bringing his son back to Torah and mitzvos. Had he refused to learn with this new bachur, there would be no Hashiveinu, and then, who knows what would have happened to his son?
Story 2: A Yid from Bnei Brak was niftar, and during the shivah, someone came to be menachem avel. This man said to the aveilim, "Your father saved my life. If it weren't for him, I would have committed suicide years ago."
The aveilim were shocked when they heard this. How did their father prevent this person from committing suicide? They knew the visitor a bit from the neighborhood. They knew he was poor, didn't have shalom bayis, nor did he have nachas, and his mental health was fragile, too. They couldn't understand how their father helped him. Their father wasn’t a man of means, so he couldn't have helped him with money. Neither was he a shalom bayis counselor, so he couldn't have helped him in that way, either. They asked, "How did our father help you? How did he prevent you from committing suicide? Did he grab you with both hands, to stop you from jumping off a roof?"
He replied, "Every motzei Shabbos, I came to your father's home, and I told him my tzaros. He wasn’t able to help me with money, but he listened to me, and that was a major relief for me. I felt that I had a place where I could unload my heart from all my tzaros, and that saved my life."
We learn from this story that to help a fellow man, one doesn't need to be exceptionally talented, wise, or learned. He doesn't need to have international fame or to be a sought-after orator. He doesn't have to be wealthy, either. Sometimes, just by listening, you can give your fellow man tremendous chizuk.
Every year, before Succos, Reb Aryeh Levine zt'l would spend a lot of time searching for a beautiful esrog. One year, on erev Succos, he came to an esrog merchant, and he chose an esrog quickly. He looked at the esrog briefly, paid for it, and left. Someone approached him and asked, "Why did you buy an esrog so quickly this year?"
Reb Aryeh Levine replied, "The Torah writes the word הדר twice. Once it refers to an esrog, הדר עץ פרי, and once with regard to honoring the elderly, זקן פני והדרת. Some are cautious with the mitzvah of הדר עץ פרי, to buy a beautiful esrog. I prefer to keep the mitzvah זקן פני והדרת, to honor the elderly. This is no less important than the other mitzvah of הדר."
He explained that elderly people were waiting for him in the המצורעים בית (The Lepers Hospital. Most people were afraid to go there. Reb Aryeh Levine would go there to help the ill). He preferred to do this mitzvah, to give chizuk to those broken people.
Reb Aryeh Levine used to frequent the Kosel Maaravi, the place that the Shechinah never left. However, in the year ח"תש, the city of Yerushalayim was captured by the Arabs, and it was impossible to go to the Kosel. Reb Aryeh Levine sought a new place to daven. Where would be a good place to daven? He chose to daven near the home of the Tchebiner Rav. He explained, "Many broken people came to this home; Holocaust survivors, rabbanim, and simple people – each with his bitter story. They would come to the Tchebiner Rav's home and pour out their bitter hearts before him. Hashem is close to those who have a bitter heart, as it states לב לנשברי 'ה קרוב, so the Shechinah never leaves this house. Therefore, I will daven there.
Let's learn from this that if we help those who feel broken, the Shechinah will be in our house, and when we daven in our house, it is like davening near the Makom HaMikdash!
It states (Yeshayah 23:18) יִה ְיֶה 'ה לִפ ְנֵי ל ַיֹּש ְׁבִים כִּי לְשׂ ָבְעָה לֶא ֱכֹל ּסַחְרָה, "for her merchandise will belong to those who sit before Hashem, to eat and be sated and for elegant clothing." Who will earn this reward? The Gemara (Pesach 118a) says, בישיבה חבירו פני המקבל זה, "This refers to when one greets his fellow man in yeshiva." The Maharsha writes that this means that he learns with others.
Torah always needs chizuk, especially in the new Elul zman. It is proper to be mekarev our fellow colleagues and learn with them.
