EXOD635 He used to say: … the more wives, the more witchcraft … Pirkei Avot, Perek II, mishnah 8. In ancient times, women in particular were given to occult activities. When Scripture decrees death for witchcraft, it speaks of a woman practitioner [this verse]. But this teaching has cogent meeting for our time too: When men devote themselves to women and the pleasures they afford, we can easily become slaves to them. Surrounded by "cooperative" assistants of this type, the Madame Pompadours of every age have had a little trouble performing their little "tricks -- feats of magic which have caused untold harm to all concerned.

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EXOD638 Do not verbally abuse a convert. Do not harm a convert with your words. We are forbidden to insult or offend any Jew, but regarding converts the Torah adds a special prohibition and even repeats it. It does so because converts are more likely to suffer from verbal abuse--because while other Jews have relatives who will defend them, converts have no one. In addition, if a convert is abused verbally there is a chance that he will return to his former way of life. One must subdue his evil nature and not persecute those who cannot defend themselves and have no one to turn to for help. To this end, each of us must behave towards converts just as we behave towards any Jew. One is forbidden to verbally abuse them, to poke fun at them or insult them. We must crown ourselves with refined character traits. Behaving with warmth towards converts promotes this effort.

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EXOD637 "You shall not abuse your fellowman" (Vayikra 25:17). The pasuk is referring to verbal abuse, as we have already prefaced (See paragraph 24). Our Sages said (Bava Metzia 58b), "If his fellowman is a repentant, you should not say to him, 'Remember your former deeds'; and if he is the son of proselytes, you should not say to him, 'Remember your forbear's deeds.'" This is what the pasuk says [this verse]: "You must not abuse the proselyte or persecute him"--"Do not abuse"[means] verbally, and "persecuted" [means] financially. The Torah admonishes us in several places regarding the abuse of the proselyte; the reason for this is that he has forgotten his people and his ancestral home and has come to take refuge under the wings of the Divine presence, similar to what the pasuk says, (Rus [Ruth] 2:11), "You left your father and mother in the land where you were born, and you went to a nation that you did not know." The pasuk also says (ibid., 12), "May your reward be complete from Hashem, the God of Yisrael, under Whose wings you have sought refuge." This is comparable to a deer that joins the flock, and once there, it lies together with the sheep, grazing with them; for he has forsaken a spacious meadow to dwell in constricted quarters (Midrash Tehillim 146).

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EXOD639 [Even verbal affliction] Do not say to him: "Remember your past deeds," or "Remember the deeds of your ancestors" (Bava Metzia 58b)

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EXOD640 It was taught: R. Eliezer Hagadol says: Why did the Torah exhort against abuse of the proselyte in thirty-three (some say: forty-three) places in the Torah? Because he is [temperamentally] inclined to evil [and arousal of this temperament is to be avoided] (Bava Metzia 59b)

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EXOD642 The Rabbis taught: One who afflicts a proselyte transgresses three negative commandments: "And a stranger you shall not afflict"; (Leviticus 19:33): "And if there live with you a stranger in your land, you shall not afflict him"; (Leviticus 25:17): "And a man shall not afflict his fellow" -- and a proselyte is in the class of "his fellow" (Bava Metzia 59b).

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EXOD641 See [[EXOD685]] Exodus 22:24 act TZADIK 155

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EXOD643 The Rabbis taught: One who oppresses a proselyte transgresses three negative commandments: "and you shall not oppress him"; (Exodus 23:9): "And a stranger you shall not oppress"; (Exodus 22:24): "Do not be to him as a creditor" -- and a proselyte is subsumed herein (Bava Metzia 59b).

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EXOD645 See [[EXOD172]] Exodus 12:49 one AMJV 352

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EXOD644 See [[DEUT163]] Deuteronomy 5:15 remember OXFORD 39

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