in the book of leviticus, there is the torah portion kedoshim, chapter 19. kedoshim is, in part, a restatement of the ten commandments. kedoshim includes the commandments concerning one god, honoring your mother and father, honoring the sabbath, the lying, and using god’s name in vain.
vayikra also expounds upon the commandments. bullying was an issue addressed. while bullying is now a popularized societal issue by it being prevalent on social media and technologies such as cell phones, it has been humanity’s problem for a very long time.
to address bullying, god declared “when a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not taunt him.” the pronouncement’s rationale was then stated. “the stranger who sojourns with you shall be as a native from among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of egypt. i am the lord, your god.” leviticus 19:33-34.
thus, it can be argued that we need to have humility, empathy and sympathy when dealing with strangers. we are to remember that we, as a people, were once humiliated by oppression. this humility should be a source of empathy to understand a stranger’s feelings and needs. finally, we should act upon our humility and empathy and act towards the stranger in a sympathetic manner. in other words, showing kindness and compassion to the stranger is implied.
in sum, in order to combat bullying, children and others must learn humility, empathy and sympathy.
be well!!
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