Parshat Ki Tetze

The Torah stated in last week's parsha that judges must not pervert judgment or give special recognition to individuals involved in a case (Devarim 16:19). In Parshat Ki Tetze, the following injunction is added:

"You shall not pervert the judgment of the stranger or the orphan, nor take a widows garment as a pledge. And you shall remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the L-rd your G-d redeemed you from there. Therefore, I command you to do this thing."
(Devarim 24:17-18)

Certainly, judges are not permitted to pervert judgment as well in a case involving a wealthy person. Why, then, does the Torah restate the prohibition specifically with regard to the stranger and the orphan ?

The commentary Divrei Shaul claims that the Torah is warning that a deviation in judgment that might not have a significant impact on a wealthy person, could be disastrous for a poor person. Therefore, when judging a stranger or an orphan, the judge must exercise extreme caution.

Rashi, on the other hand, believes that the Torah here is reacting to the tendency to be more lenient when judging those who are unfortunate and needy. The verse warns, therefore, that the judge must be more vigilant against perverting justice in cases involving strangers and widows. If so, what is the relevance of remembering the Egyptian bondage ? The Ohr Hachayim claims that the second part of the verse referring to the garment of the widow is an exception to the first part of the verse. In other words, the Torah is saying that only in the case of the widow is it permitted to bend the law. It is with regard to this component that the Egyptian bondage is mentioned. Because of our experience of slavery and oppression, we should be more compassionate to the widow.

The Ramban, however, views this section differently than Rashi. He claims that the natural tendency would be to pervert justice against the stranger and the orphan in favor of the wealthy because they have no one to protect them. The Ramban ties this concept to the Egyptian bondage mentioned in verse 24:18:

That you should not think that the stranger has no one to deliver him from your hands. On the contrary, you know that when you were slaves in Egypt, that I saw the oppression with which the Egyptians were oppressing you, and brought vengeance down upon them....It is I who delivers every man from the hand of the one who is stronger than him. In like manner, do not afflict the orphan or widow since I shall hearken to their cry.
(Shemot 23:9)

The commandment not to oppress the stranger appears 36 times in the Torah, more than any other mitzvah, with repeated references to our experience in Egypt (i.e. "And you shall not oppress the stranger, for you know the heart of the stranger seeing as you were strangers in the land of Egypt." - Shemot 23:9). Most of our commentators understand that because of our own experience of oppression, we should have greater compassion for the stranger and other unfortunate people. The Ramban claims that this is not necessarily consistent with human nature. Although we would hope that one who has overcome suffering will have greater compassion for others who are suffering, it is not uncommon for one who has been oppressed to oppress others. For example, it has been demonstrated that a large percentage of child abusers were abused as children. It is for this reason that, according to the Ramban, the message of the exodus from Egypt is that G-d is the champion of the unfortunate.

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