850. A Proselyte Who Converted

“Rabbi Yosi says, ‘A proselyte who converted is as a newly born child.’ One is not punished for the past. Rather, why is one tormented? Because he is not proficient in the precisions of the Mitzvot [commandments] like Israel” (Yevamot 48).

In other words, once he has converted, he has ascents and descents, which are spiritual suffering, and this is because he is not proficient in the precisions of the Mitzvot of mind and heart, for only then is his eternity established in him, and he no longer leaves the King’s palace.