לפנים משורת הדין & שנאת חינם Beyond the Letter of the Law & Causeless Hatred

Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You represent the people before God: you bring the disputes before God,

and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow.

You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens,

and let them judge the people at all times. Have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you.

The Gemara cites a source for going beyond the letter of the law in the performance of mitzvot. As Rav Yosef taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the path wherein they shall walk and the action that they must perform” (Exodus 18:20). The baraita parses the various directives in the verse. “And you shall teach them,” that is referring to the structure of their livelihood, i.e., teach the Jewish people trades so that they may earn a living; “the path,” that is referring to acts of kindness; “they shall walk,” that is referring to visiting the ill; “wherein,” that is referring to burial; “and the action,” that is referring to acting in accordance with the letter of the law; “that they must perform,” that is referring to acting beyond the letter of the law.

The eleventh: "Kindness to Avraham" - these are the ones that act beyond the [letter] of the law in the world, like Avraham, our father; also the Holy One, blessed be He, acts with them beyond the [letter] of the law. He does not take the law (judgement) to its [full] force, even in the way of straightness. Rather, He [seeks to] go beyond straightness with them, [just] like they act. And that is [the meaning of] "kindness to Avraham" - the Holy One, blessed be He, practices the trait of kindness with those that are like Avraham in their behavior.

The Gemara asks: What does God pray? To whom does God pray? Rav Zutra bar Tovia said that Rav said:
God says: May it be My will that My mercy will overcome My anger towards Israel for their transgressions, and may My mercy prevail over My other attributes through which Israel is punished, and may I conduct myself toward My children, Israel, with the attribute of mercy, and may I enter before them beyond the letter of the law.

It was taught in the baraita: “That they must perform”; that is referring to acting beyond the letter of the law, as Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Jerusalem was destroyed only for the fact that they adjudicated cases on the basis of Torah law in the city. The Gemara asks: Rather, what else should they have done? Should they rather have adjudicated cases on the basis of arbitrary decisions [demagizeta]? Rather, say: That they established their rulings on the basis of Torah law and did not go beyond the letter of the law.

There is an evil which is grievous, indeed, and that is hatred without cause, and it is that evil which caused the destruction of the Second Temple. Then there is hatred arising from jealousy, which is even worse, and it is proper for a person to reprove his soul to separate itself far from these evils. And there is one who hates his companion because he does not deal kindly with him, or does not give him a gift that he wants, or does not loan him money when he is in distress.

The LORD saw that Leah was unloved and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.