A recent (as of this writing) TftD discussed how The Jewish People are the Parchment of the Oral Torah. I still believe it is a good choice of words, but there are those who have pushed back: The Oral Law cannot be written, so how does that go with parchment? Let me explain by way of cloud computing.
Unless you have been living under a rock (in which case, I suppose you are not the one reading this), then you have heard of "the cloud" from which we get our files and podcasts and to which we can save pictures, videos, and other documents. What is the cloud? I could tell you it is a myriad of connected computers, but that is not quite true. While you need a myriad of computers to actually build the cloud, you also need a lot of programs that manage how the computers work together. You also need a system that manages those programs. Also, only certain computers can be used. One of the deep realities of cloud computing is that all computers in the cloud are peers. There is no one computer that runs the show; they all do collectively.
We use the terms "reading" and "writing" regarding data in the cloud, but those are really borrowed terms. If you are old enough to remember The Beverly Hillbillies (in the days when TV was more or less kosher), think about the time when Granny went to the bank to see Jed's money. Mr. Drysdale patiently explained that their money was spread all over the place in different investments. Granny went nuclear, of course. Good times. It is kind of like that when you ask exactly where your pictures/videos/documents really are. Don't think about it too much.
One more thing: The cloud has one weakness; namely, if all the computers would lose power, pretty much everything would be lost. The trick is, though, that since all the computers are peers, any computer can pick up a job, sometimes a lot of computers need to pick up the loss of one computer. There is no one point of failure. I am oversimplifying a bit, but not a lot.
In a way, that is how I picture (another borrowed term) the Jewish People and the Oral Law. We are not the Oral Law, but we are all part of maintaining and nourishing the Oral Law. It only works because we all trust and depend on each other -- כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה/every Jew is a guarantor for every other Jew. And that only works because of a feeling that permeates the Jewish People. ואהבת לרעך כמוך/Every Jew must love every other Jew. That is much, much more than just a mitzvah, that is our "operating system".
How does one join this incredible nation? To add a computer to the cloud, you can't just put it in a room with computers that are already part of the cloud. It needs to be connected and it also needs -- besides its own software -- the software that makes it work with the cloud. It needs to be able to give and receive as a peer.
There are two ways to join the Jewish People. One is to be born to a Jewish mother. That little Jew comes into the world already to be loved and to love other Jews. Anyone who has experienced having a child knows that feeling of overwhelming love when looking at them for the first time. It seems to come from nowhere, full blown and powerful.
The other way is to present oneself to a kosher beis din and plead your case. They represent the entire Jewish People and they have a right, if they see fit, to join the stranger into the Jewish people. How? ואהבתם את הגר/You shall love the convert. A convert is a full Jew, so should already be covered by ואהבת לרעך כמוך, right? So why does the Torah give a separate/additional mitzvah? To empower beis din to bring this stranger into the nation and convert him to a Jew, just like every other member of the national family known as Klal Yisrael.
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