‘Do not oppress the stranger’

Published: 28 April 2016

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio on Mishpatim and people seeking asylum

In this week’s Torah portion Mishpatim we read a large number of the 613 commandments. The matters with which they deal range from the mundane to more weighty and heavy topics. The commandments appear in a seemingly random order, with the most grave being intermingled with what appear to be less significant commandments, teaching us that all the commandments are important. It is just as crucial to treat our fellow human beings with respect, as it is not to steal, murder or cheat. We are commanded to live our lives in accordance with the rules of the Torah which means every aspect of our daily actions is governed by the laws, reminding us that our deeds are significant no matter what we are doing. We can bring an element of holiness to everything we do, from relationships with others, to shopping, washing, cleaning or even eating. And similarly, those acts can each be a desecration, causing harm and hurt if we make the wrong choices. The Torah, with its placement of the commandments, teaches us that even the smallest acts have consequences and they can be as weighty as the big acts.

Interestingly, most of the commandments are concerned with relationships between people. There is less emphasis on our belief, faith in and treatment of God than there is on how we interact with and treat one another. Partly this is because the Jewish teaching is that our actions are a reflection of how we feel about God. To be God’s emissaries in the world is the highest form of holiness, to imitate God’s good and worthy deeds is the ultimate act of faith. Not to convince others of the presence of God or to worship God but rather to see the godliness in us, through the respect, love and compassion that we show for others. There is no greater testament to God’s existence, according to the traditional Jewish sources, than for us to heed God’s call and go into the world and make it a better place. To care for the most vulnerable people and to treat one another with kindness and compassion.

And the commandment that is most often repeated is the command to care for the stranger. We are told “Do not ill treat strangers, or oppress them for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” “Do not oppress the stranger for you know the soul of the stranger, for you were strangers in Egypt.” And “when a stranger lives with you in your land, do not mistreat them. The stranger living with you must be treated as one of your native born. Love them as yourself, for you, yourself were strangers in Egypt.” Care for the stranger, do not oppress the stranger, love the stranger - why? Because we know, we understand, we have been there. We know the soul of the stranger. We know what it is like to be alone, to be far from all that is familiar, to be without protection, to be oppressed. We are to care for the stranger for the most deep and visceral of reasons, not out of fear of punishment, not because God tells us but rather because we know, we understand their plight, we can see ourselves in them, we are the stranger and that compels us to act with compassion, care and love.

Against this backdrop, this call to action for us to love and care for the stranger, we find our country’s policies and practices towards asylum seekers being the antithesis of that position. Far from welcoming, sheltering and protecting the stranger, the vulnerable, we are turning them away, and sending them to offshore detention centres. This week, the High Court in a 6:1 decision found that the Australian government is within its constitutional rights to send children to detention in Nauru. Currently there are 267 children in detention in Australia, including 33 who were born here, who will be at risk of being sent to Nauru.₁ This, despite 20 countries in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, last November calling on Australia to reconsider its off shore processing policies to comply with its international obligations. Sending children to Nauru is, they argued, in contravention of many of our obligations under international treaties.₂

Two Australian enquiries have been conducted which have found the treatment of children at Nauru and the long term impacts on their mental and physical health are beyond unacceptable. Two doctors, experts in trauma, who visited and interviewed children who had been detained at Nauru, said:

“These children, most of whom had spent months in Nauru are among the most traumatised we have ever seen in our 50 years of combined professional experience. We were deeply disturbed by the number of young children who expressed the intent to self harm and talked openly about suicide and by those who had already self harmed. Many of the children had a palpable anticipatory trauma at the mention of a return to Nauru.”₃

The conditions in Nauru: tropical heat, poor access to water, inadequate education, healthcare and other assaults were deemed to amount to torture by independent authorities. So oppressive are the conditions that a teacher who was detained there wanted to teach the children reading, maths, basic lessons and he was not permitted to do so.

The Senate independent report found that there had been 67 cases of child abuse, 33 cases of sexual abuse reported and not one conviction has been recorded.₄ There is little to no reporting about the operations of these centres and Australia has openly said that once people arrive in Nauru Australia is no longer responsible for what happens to them. Professor Gillian Triggs, the Human Rights Commission president said:

“Often the policy of off shore processing and detention is defended as necessary to stop the boats and save lives. This is profoundly untrue and a conflation of two issues. There is little evidence that detaining children for long periods is an effective deterrent to people smugglers. Indeed both former ministers of Immigration Scott Morrison and Chris Bowen confirmed this under oath at the AHRC Inquiry 18 months ago.” ₅

How can we sit by and allow this to happen? How, when we read the words of this morning’s parasha can we be a part of allowing the most vulnerable of all the already vulnerable asylum seekers to be subject to such cruel and inhumane treatment? We are destroying lives, lives of people whose only crime is to seek shelter, protection and a better future for their families.

How many more stories are there behind a veil of silence? Asylum seekers are not permitted to speak to the press; if they do so their claims for asylum can be affected. Many people who have been granted visas are afraid to speak because they fear the consequences. This is Australia, and people are scared to speak to the press. Others are so traumatised by their experience, not just seeking refuge but also from the circumstances from which they fled, they are unable to speak. They have not found shelter, safety, a haven. They cannot escape even though they are physically safe here, and so they are silent, trying to forget, trying to forge a new life.

It is hard to hear these stories. It is hard to hear that our nation is the source of pain and suffering, inhumane treatment, possibly illegal actions. It is hard to listen for the silent cries. But we must. Our Torah compels us: “You know the soul of the stranger, you know what it is like, remember, remember and never forget.” We are commanded to feel empathy, to try to understand the plight of the stranger and to reach out with compassion.

This week, churches opened their doors and offered sanctuary to asylum seekers at risk of being returned to Nauru. We can support their actions, we can write to the government to let these people stay in Australia and provide a humane solution for those who are still on Nauru and Manus Island. We can heed the call of the Torah: “Do not oppress, the stranger, care for the stranger, love the stranger for you were strangers in Egypt.”

Shabbat Shalom

1. Refugee Council of Australia “Offering Sanctuary to those threatened with deportation to Nauru”
2. Professor Gillian Triggs speech 4th February 2016
3. Human Rights Commission “New Report: Experts reveal alarming impact of detention on children 4th Feb 2016
4. Refugee Council of Australia “Offering sanctuary to those threatened with deportation to Nauru”
5. Professor Gillian Triggs speech 4th Feb 2016

This article may be republished if acknowledged thus: “The above sermon was delivered by Rabbi Ninio at Emanuel Synagogue, Woollahra, and first published on www.thejewishindependent.com.au. It is republished with permission.”