I chose this verse because out of all the mitzvot, I feel like it most directly applies to me. Ever since I was little, maybe eight or nine years old, my family has been constantly moving around. Whether it be at school, in a neighborhood, on a sports team or just with friends, I was always known as “the new kid.” Every time we moved somewhere new, I felt like an outcast, like an alien in a strangers land. The hardest move was definetly the summer before freshman year, where I had to start at a huge new high school, without knowing a single person. I was so worried I wouldn’t make any friends. However in my first class at freshman orientation, a girl I’d never seen before came up to me and introduced herself. And from that point forward we talked almost everyday. We became best friends faster than i thought possible and last year, I moved in next door to her. even though we’ve had a lot of fights and drama since then, we’re still super close, all because she followed the Mitzvot of Leviticus 19:34 and treated a stranger like her own. Since I know the feeling of being different or new, I always try to follow this verse. I try to sit with new people at lunch and talk to kids who aren’t in a big group or who I haven’t seen before. I try to include everyone because I really know how it feels to be the out kid.
I chose this picture because it was taken almost exactly a year after we met. The fact that only one year ago (two now) I didn’t even know her name is insane to me. It reminds me that not everyone is lucky enough to have the sort of friendship we have where you can tell and trust them with anything. And our friendship inspires me to do the same mirzvot she did for me. To treat strangers like my own. Introduce myself, welcome them, comfort them. Because who knows? They might just end up becoming my best friend and my sister. the family that I got to choose.
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