Taamei Hamitzvos - Acceptance of the Egyptian Convert
by Rabbi Shmuel Kraines
“Study improves the quality of the act and completes it, and a mitzvah is more beautiful when it emerges from someone who understands its significance.” (Meiri, Bava Kama 17a)
Mitzvah #564
As with the Edomite convert, whose status was discussed in the previous article, the Egyptian convert may only marry Jews of a similar restricted status, but his grandchildren and following generations may marry unrestrictedly. In the words of the Torah (Devarim 23:8-9): “Do not detest the Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land. Children born to them in the third generation may enter the community of Hashem.” In other words, while we have good reason not to want to marry Egyptians after all they did to us, we are commanded to accept them after three generations because they initially treated us well and allowed us to settle in their land during a time of famine.
Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:42) and Radvaz (Metzudas David) comment that we may learn from here that even when a person causes harm to us, it does not give us the right to forget the one time we needed him, for ingratitude is a despicable trait. The Midrash expounds (Devarim Rabbah 10, cited in Otzar HaMidrashim, Taryag Mitzvos): It is the way of flesh and blood that when one person harms another, the grudge never leaves his heart - but Hashem is not that way. Even though the Egyptians committed many crimes against His people, He commands us not to detest the Egyptian. All this is because of the importance of pursuing peace, as it is written, Seek peace and pursue it (Tehillim 34:14).
From the prohibition against detesting the Egyptian, we can learn the extent to which a person is obligated to show appreciation to his host (Rabbeinu Meyuchas). As the Midrash comments (Sifri, cited in Otzar HaMidrashim), this prohibition teaches us how much Hashem regards the kindness of hosting people. If He rewards the Egyptians for hosting the Jewish people even though they had an ulterior motive of economic gain, He certainly rewards those who host others altruistically.
Rav Menachem HaBavli explains that the three generation limit is linked to the three generations of increasing purity through which the Jewish community was built. It began with Avraham and culminated with Yaakov, whose family is called a “community.” The wickedness that the Egyptians displayed by subjugating our ancestors and embittering their lives indicated a serious flaw in their spiritual genes. Only once the Egyptian convert has undergone a similar three-generation process of purification may he marry into the Jewish community without compromising its degree of purity through his spiritual flaw.
There is a similar restricted status that applies to male Amonite and Moavite converts for all generations, for reasons discussed in an earlier article. According to the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 21:4), the reason for the more severe restriction of Amon and Moav is that they sent their daughters to induce the Jewish men to sin (see Eitz Yosef), as related at the end of Parashas Balak. The Midrash remarks: Edom and Egypt, who came at us with the sword, are restricted only until the third generation, whereas Amon and Moav, who sought to make us sin, are restricted for all generations. From this, the Midrash derives that making a person sin is more severe that killing him, for a murderer only kills a person in one world while making someone sin can cause him to forfeit both worlds.
The restrictions of these four nations reminds us of our own elevated spiritual status. Our Patriarchs and Matriarchs worked hard to build our nation, and our ancestors sacrificed many benefits and sometimes even their own lives in order to maintain our sacred line. It is the privilege and responsibility of every Jew to retain the hard-earned purity that makes us distinct wherever in the world we may be.
