Suffering can teach us love, but too often it leads to apathy, indifference, rage, and hostility. The Bible encourages us to use our suffering to cultivate compassion and care for others, rather than turning inward and becoming hardened. Many who have experienced great suffering struggle with conflicting impulses – feeling entitled to focus only on themselves, while also feeling a deep empathy for others in pain. The mandate to love the stranger challenges us to prioritize caring for others, especially the vulnerable, even if we have faced oppression and abandonment ourselves.
The mandate to love the stranger goes beyond addressing geopolitical conflicts, reaching into our personal lives at the most intimate levels. The author shares their own struggles with feeling entitled to ignore others’ pain due to past trauma, while also experiencing a heightened sense of empathy and responsibility towards those who are suffering. Through the retelling of the Exodus story, we are reminded of our own vulnerabilities and the importance of caring for those in need, regardless of their background or differences from us.
The commandment to care for the vulnerable is both individual and communal, specifically emphasized for Jews in the Bible but relevant to all of humanity. In the face of suffering, there may be a temptation to become indifferent or even hateful towards others, but the author urges readers to reject this temptation. Instead, they advocate for using memory of past experiences to cultivate empathy and letting suffering teach us love for those in need.
As we navigate the complexities of our own suffering and the suffering of others, it is important to remember that our experiences should not lead us to become closed off or hostile towards those in need. The mandate to love the stranger is a call to action, challenging us to prioritize caring for the vulnerable and showing compassion to those who are experiencing pain and hardship. Through empathy and love, we can transform our suffering into a source of strength and a way to connect with others on a deeper level.
