Love your Neighbor as Yourself....Parshat Kedoshim

You have probably heard this story recorded in the Babylonian Talmud about the house of Shammai and the house of Hillel:

There was a situation where a non-Jew came before Shammai and said to him:  Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I am standing on one foot. Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s cubit which was in his hand.  He then came before Hillel who converted him and said:  Whatever is hateful to you, do not to your fellow -  that is the whole Torah.  The rest is commentary- go and learn!

Hillel’s summary of the Torah was actually based on today’s parasha, Kedoshim.  In chapter 19 verse 18 we read:  Love your neighbor as yourself…v’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha.  This is the basis of what we often call the Golden Rule.  Jacob Neusner comments that the statement in Kedoshim is merely one based on attitude with action being implicit.  Hillel’s interpretation is based on ethics.  The focus in Kedoshim is a positive statement.  The focus in Hillel’s reinterpretation of the text is stated in negative terms.  In both cases, however, the emphasis is on one’s fellow.  So the question that follows is, “how does one define one’s fellow?” 

Rabbi Akiva commented on who is one’s fellow by stating, that “You shall love your fellow as yourself” is a major principle of the Torah.  Ben Azzai said, there was an even greater principle namely, “This is the book of the generations of man,”  (Genesis 5:1).  In other words, Akiva did not include everyone in the definition of “your fellow, only Jews”, while Ben Azzai felt that one’s fellow meant any other person.

The statement in Kedoshim about loving one’s fellow as yourself, might make some feel as if commanding an emotion is an unattainable goal.  How can we be commanded to love someone?  The sages felt that if you acted as if you loved another individual, the action would awaken the feeling of love.  How do you act as if you love another individual?  You merely give of yourself….approach another with a smile, a kind word, and a sense of appreciation.  Such actions should lead to an increased sense of positive feelings for the other individual.

When Maimonides commented on the principle of loving your fellow as yourself, he wrote in Sefer HaMitzvot:  “The 206^th commandment is that G-d commanded us to love each other as we love ourselves, and that my love for my brother should be as my compassion and love for myself regarding his property, his person, whatever is in his possession, or whatever he desires.  And that whatever I wish for myself, I should wish for him likewise. And whatever I would hate(to be done) to myself or anyone close to me, I will, likewise, hate to be done to him.  And that is what He said: ‘And you shall love your fellow as yourself.’”

I see this commandment playing out in many practical ways in our community. It influences how we care for mourners, bury the dead, visit the sick, welcome guests, and perform acts of loving-kindness. It influences how we take care of those who are emotionally needy, those who are hungry, and those who are in need of shelter.  It even influences how we speak about others and treat the strangers in our midst.

We have managed in many ways to take this commandment seriously, but now we should focus on the rest of Hillel’s statement….go and learn!  That is a part of the challenge that I hope we can focus upon as well!

Shabbat Shalom.