If you like “mitzvahs” (commandments), you will love Mishpatim as it contains the most mitzvot of any Torah portion. Every day this week Rabbi David Woznica will share his thoughts on one mitzvah.

You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:20)

It is difficult to overstate the power of this commandment. Beginning with this verse, the next three verses in the Torah focus on those who are among the most vulnerable: the stranger, widow, orphan, and the poor. We have obligations to treat the stranger with decency irrespective of their religion, ethnicity, or family background and do so for one reason; the stranger is a human being, created in the image of God. And lest we minimize its importance, the Talmud notes the teaching to love—or not to oppress—the stranger is repeated thirty-six times in the Torah.

— Rabbi David Woznica