The phrases 'ani Hashem ' and 'ki kadosh ani' occur a number of times in parshas Kedoshim. However, there are only two commandments that conjure up the memory of the Egyptian experience. Interestingly, both are contained in a small five-verse section of Kedoshim.
V'chi yagur itcha ger...v'ahavta lo kamocha ki geirim heyitem b'eretz mitzrayim - love the stranger like yourself because you, too, were strangers in Mitzrayim. 'Moznei tzedek avnei tzedek eifas tzedek v'hin tzedek yihyeh lachem ani Hashem Elokeichem asher hotzeisi eschem me'eretz Mitzrayim' - be honest and faithful in weights and measurements. I am Hashem your God who took you out of Egypt.
Firstly, we need to understand why these two commandments utilize the memory of the Egyptian experience. Second, we must understand an interesting distinction between the two statements regarding Mitzrayim. The commandment regarding the stranger emphasizes our exile in Egypt. It charges us to remember the persecution and pain we suffered and implores us to act differently when the wheel has turned and we are the landowner rather than the stranger. The commandment regarding weights and measurements does not require us to remember the Egyptian exile but rather the Egyptian exodus. We are asked to remember that we were taken out of Egypt rather than remember what life was like while there. Why the distinction?
Kedoshim is filled with commandments. Many of the commandments relate to the interaction of a person and Hashem, a person and his family, a person and his community. These two commandments, however, relate to people beyond the normal scope of Knesset Yisrael. Dealing with the stranger is a commandment to include others who were previously seen as different and from whom we were commanded to separate. The laws of weights and measures applies to all business dealings irrespective of the background, religion, or ethnicity of the buyer.
The Egyptian experience - both the persecution experienced while in the exile as well as the exodus and redemption from it - is seen as a uniquely Jewish experience. The persecution was one that was directed at the Jewish people as a people. The exodus signified the intimate, hashgacha pratis relationship between Hashem and Bnei Yisrael, ultimately leading to our designation as mamleches kohanim v'goy kadosh. Few events are more uniquely Jewish than the experience of exile and exodus from Egypt.
But keeping these experiences and the knowledge gained from them to ourselves is not the function of Bnei Yisrael. The charge of the Jewish people is to take these unique experiences and convert them to universal messages. The charge is to be a light unto the nations. Experiences - positive and negative - are to be learned from and taught with. These two commandments symbolize this requirement. The Torah commands us to remember the persecution we experienced in Egypt and rather than perpetuate this evil by doing the same to others, we are commanded to eradicate the evil; rather than perpetuate prejudice, division of classes, inequality, we are commanded to include, respect, and support all citizens.
Similarly, the Torah commands us to act honestly and fairly in our dealings with all others. We are asked to remember the exodus from Egypt to help us in this endeavor. The redemption from Egypt was done with careful and exacting measurement. Halalu ovdei avodah zarah v'halalu ovdei avodah zarah. The promise to our ancestors, the mitzva of Korban Pesach and Bris Milah were essential distinctions that enabled the redemption to be achieved. Rather than utilizing that exacting measurement as a distinguishing factor between us and others, we are commanded to deliver that message of fair practice universally by being an example of honesty and fairness.
The Egyptian experience depicted in these verses spans the persecution to the redemption. The laws described in these verses are ones that apply to our interactions with people beyond the normal scope of the Knesset Yisrael community. The connection is one that implores us to take all of our experiences - whether perceived as uniquely Jewish or not - and convert them into universal messages, espousing and expanding the glory of the Torah and assuring the achievement of our mission to be an or l'amim.
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