EXOD657 The Torah's rationale for this command is somewhat counterintuitive, since so many of us do not learn from our own suffering not to inflict suffering on others. The last people we would expect to abuse their children are those who themselves were abused as children, but, in fact, they are far more likely to do so than adults who were not abused. Similarly, historians have often explained the widespread German support for Nazism as a response, in part, to the severe terms the Allies imposed on the Germans at the end of World War I. In short, suffering is often not an ennobling teacher. But that is exactly what the Torah demands of the Israelites, and continues to demand of Jews today: Learn from the bad treatment you have experienced at the hands of others not to treat others in the same way.