פרשת אחרי מות - קדושים תש"ד - "לא תקום", "ואהבת לרעך", ערלה

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

love to your fellowman as yourself Many people have said that the lamed is superfluous, like the lamed in “they killed Avner” [II Samuel 3:30] [literally: they killed to Avner]. In my opinion, however, it contributes to the verse’s meaning. One must love the good that pertains to one’s fellowman as much as one loves the good that pertains to oneself.

You shall not hate your brother in your heart: Since it is the way of haters to hide their hatred in their hearts, as it stated (Proverbs 26:24), "A hater makes his lips foreign," the verse mentioned what is common. And [then] it stated, "you shall surely rebuke your kinsman," [as] a separate commandment to teach him ethical reproofs. And "and you shall not carry sin for him" [is] that there will be guilt upon you if he sins and you had not reproved him. And the language of Onkelos inclines to this [understanding], as he says, "that you not receive liability for what is his" - that you do not receive punishment for his sin. And afterwards (Leviticus 19:18), it commanded that you love him. And behold, one who hates his neighbor transgresses a negative commandment and one who loves him, fulfills a positive commandment. And what is correct in my eyes is that "you shall surely rebuke your kinsman," is like "And Avraham rebuked Avimelekh" (Genesis 21:25). And the verse states, "You shall not hate your brother in your heart" in his doing to you that which is not like your will; but rather, rebuke him [by saying], "Why did you do like this to me." [Hence the meaning of] "And you shall not carry sin for him" [is] to cover up your hatred for him in your heart and not to tell him. As in your rebuking him, he will make amends with you or repent and admit his sin, and it will be atoned for him. And afterwards it warns that you not take revenge from him and not bear a grudge in your heart [about] what he did to you. As it is likely that he will not hate him but he will remember the sin in his heart. And therefore it warns him that he erase the crime and sin of his brother from his heart. And afterwards it commands him, "and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The phrase "love your neighbor as yourself" is an exaggeration, since the heart of a person will not accept that he love his fellow as he loves himself. Moreover, Rabbi Akiva has already taught (Bava Metzia 62), "Your life comes before the life of your fellow." Rather, the Torah here enjoins us that one should love his neighbor with every item with which he loves himself, [to receive] every benefit [that he wish upon himself]. It is likely that this is the reason for the dative (literally, "to your neighbor") instead of the accusative form of the verb phrase; we find the same in "and you shall love to him as yourself" (Leviticus 19:34) regarding the convert - the understanding of which is to equalize the love of both of them in his mind. As sometimes a person may wish upon his neighbor certain benefits, but only wealth, not wisdom and the like. But even if he wishes his cherished friend well in everything, i.e. wealth, honor, knowledge, and wisdom, he will not make him equal to him, but rather he will still desire in his heart a larger share of all the benefits. And [so] the Torah commanded that there not be this petty jealousy in his heart. Rather, a man should wish his fellow well in everything, just as he does in his own case, and place no limitations on his love. Therefore, in the case of Yonatan and David (I Samuel 20:17), it stated that Yonatan "loved him as his own soul," since he had removed all jealousy from his heart, and stated "and you shall rule over Israel, etc." (I Samuel 23:17). And our Rabbis have already explained the matter of vengeance and grudges (Sifra, Kedoshim Chapter 4 10-11), that it is with something that has no monetary liability [such as if he says], "Lend me your sickle, lend me your spade." As with something that his fellow has a monetary liability to him, such as with damages and similar to it, he is not obligated to leave him alone. Rather, he should make a claim against him in court and be paid by him, from the verse (Leviticus 24:19), "as he has done, so shall it be done to him." And when he pays that which he borrowed or which he stole, he himself is obligated to pay [it]. And all the more so with the matter of souls, that he take vengeance and a grudge through a court that instructs with the laws of the Torah, until he redeems the blood of his brother from his hand.

Rabbi Tanchuma said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Menachem in the name of Rav said... Ben Azzai said: “These are the generations of Adam" is a great principle in the Torah. Rabbi Akiva said: This is a great principle of the Torah: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). Thus, one should not say, “Since I am scorned, I should scorn my fellow as well; since I have been cursed, I will curse my fellow as well.” Rabbi Tanchumah said, if you act thus, realize who it is that you are willing to have humiliated - "the one who was made in the likeness of God." Rabbi Tanchuma says, “If you do so, you should know who are you scorning — ‘in the likeness of God He created him.’”

And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten.

וערלתם ערלתו את פריו meant lit., ye shall close its closing (regard it as enclosed): the meaning being that it shall be, as it were, closed up and barred so that no benefit may be derived from it.

you will leave its fruit unused [literally: you shall regard the fruit as uncircumcised] You shall treat it as you treat a foreskin, which is harmful and serves no purpose (linguistically, a foreskin [Hebrew: ‘orla] is an “impediment” of the flesh, like a speech impediment [Hebrew: ‘orla], or a hearing impediment [Hebrew: ‘orla]).

You shall regard its fruit as closed off. The reason for this mitzvah is to honor Hashem from the first of all our produce from the fruit of trees and vineyards. We should not eat from them until we bring all the fruit of one year as praises to Hashem. The fruit from the three years is not worthy to offer to Hashem, the Honored One, since it is negligible, and the tree does not provide its fruit with taste and scent during the three years. Most of them do not bring forth fruit at all until the fourth year. Therefore we wait for them all and we will not eat from them until we bring from the orchard we have planted all its good first fruit, “holy, praises to Hashem.” There, one shall eat them and praise the name of Hashem. In this respect, this mitzvah resembles the mitzvah of first fruits.

וערלתם, you will treat it as totally out of bounds, keeping your distance from it. The word occurs in a similar sense both in Jeremiah 6,10 ערלה אזנם, referring to the people’s ears, and in Ezekiel 44,9 ערל לב, describing the heart as totally unapproachable. We also find it in a similar sense in Chabakuk 2,16 שתה גם אתה והערל, where it also denotes someone utterly disgraced.

And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as forbidden; three years shall it be as forbidden unto you; it shall not be eaten.

unused Literally means to treat something as an ‘orla ; but the Aramaic translation is also worthy of note [“You shall put it aside for destruction”].

You shall regard its fruit as closed off. The reason for this mitzvah is to honor Hashem from the first of all our produce from the fruit of trees and vineyards. We should not eat from them until we bring all the fruit of one year as praises to Hashem. The fruit from the three years is not worthy to offer to Hashem, the Honored One, since it is negligible, and the tree does not provide its fruit with taste and scent during the three years. Most of them do not bring forth fruit at all until the fourth year. Therefore we wait for them all and we will not eat from them until we bring from the orchard we have planted all its good first fruit, “holy, praises to Hashem.” There, one shall eat them and praise the name of Hashem. In this respect, this mitzvah resembles the mitzvah of first fruits.