Do not oppress any widow or orphan. If you do oppress him, then if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry. My anger will flare up against you, and I will slay you by the sword. (Shemos 22:21-23)
“Any widow or orphan” – It is the same regarding every person, but the verse spoke of the common case. This is because these people’s strength is weakened, and it is common for them to be oppressed. (Rashi)
We are normally careful about the feelings of great, respected personages. We don’t pain them or aggravate them, we make sure they have everything they need, we give them what they ask for, to the best of our ability. This is standard treatment for great Rabbanim and exceptionally wealthy people and VIPs in general.
When it comes to ordinary folk, and surely those commonly viewed as below average – such the poor or the Torah-ignorant or the weak-minded – we usually treat them in a different manner. Even when we assist them with something, or listen to what they have to say, we might first let them wait, or try to hurry it up.
However, our parshah bears a powerful message regarding this. It teaches us to make sure we honor all people and not pain anyone. The Torah’s approach is the opposite of common practice: The lower a person is, the more downtrodden he senses himself to be, the more we must concern ourselves with him, not to cause him pain or aggravation. We see how strongly the Torah speaks regarding the punishment for he who mistreats widows and orphans, and Rashi explains this applies to all downtrodden people, not just widows and orphans.
Gedolei Yisrael were very concerned about this matter; they feared they were more likely than others to transgress this warning. So we see from the following story about R. Shimon ben Gamliel and R. Yishmael, who were sentenced to death by the Roman authorities.
R. Yishmael was crying.
R. Shimon ben Gamliel said to him, “In another two steps, you will be in the domain of the tzaddikim, and you are crying?!”
R. Yishmael replied, “I am crying because we are being executed in the manner of murderers and Shabbos desecrators.”
R. Shimon ben Gamliel said to him, “Maybe it happened that you were in the middle of a meal, or you were sleeping, and a woman came to you to ask about her Halachic state of purity, and your attendant told her, ‘He is sleeping.’ And the Torah said ‘If you do oppress him... I will slay you by the sword.’”
We see that these saintly Torah giants were gravely concerned they might have shown insufficient respect to common people.
Chazal also offer a different version of the story:
R. Shimon ben Gamliel said to him, “Maybe it happened one time that a person came to you with a court case, or a Halachic question, and you kept him waiting until you drank your cup or tied your shoe or put on your shawl. And the Torah said ‘If you do oppress him.’ [The punishment] is the same for a great oppression and for a small oppression.”
Clearly, it is not just the widows and orphans that we need to be careful about. Whenever a person comes to ask a question or make a request of you, at that moment he needs your help, so he feels a little down, as he is dependent on someone else’s favors. At that time, the Torah considers him like the widow and the orphan, and we are commanded not to prolong the shame and discomfort he is experiencing.
The Rambam was exceedingly careful about this, and recounts how he handled himself when people would come to him with requests regarding their sicknesses:
I go out to them to calm them and please them, to beg them to forgo their honor and wait until I eat my small, daily meal. I go out to heal them and to write them notes and prescriptions for the healing of their sicknesses. People come in and out until nightfall. And sometimes, as per the faith of the Torah, for two or more hours into the night I speak to them and instruct them and converse with them; as I am lying flat out from exhaustion the night comes and I am so weak I can’t talk anymore.
The Rambam writes even more in that place about his supreme dedication to helping the simple people.
And what about us? We might be tempted sometimes, when waiting in line at the grocery store, to cut in front of a young child. Or we might ask a child or a person of lowly status for a favor, or send them on an errand, when we wouldn’t ask someone else to do it for us. And they often go and do it just because they don’t feel comfortable saying no. There are so many similar examples.
If the Torah punishes so heavily for taking advantage of the weak, surely the reward is many times greater if we show concern for them. If we are careful about the feelings of others, we will merit a long and pleasant life, for us and for our family members.
