לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ הוֹכֵ֤חַ תּוֹכִ֙יחַ֙ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֥א עָלָ֖יו חֵֽטְא׃ לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃
You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am YHVH.
On a first read of this text, who do you think that Leviticus is calling you to love? Who might the text not include? Notice the different objects of the verses (brother, kinsman, countryman, fellow). Why do you think that the Torah uses different nouns with each verse? (See the last text for BDB).
(לג) וְכִֽי־יָג֧וּר אִתְּךָ֛ גֵּ֖ר בְּאַרְצְכֶ֑ם לֹ֥א תוֹנ֖וּ אֹתֽוֹ׃ (לד) כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(33) When a stranger [ger] resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. (34) The stranger [ger] who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am YHVH, your G!d.
On a first read of this text, who do you think that Leviticus is calling you to love? How does the Torah encourage/reinforce such this mitzvah? Why do you think the Torah needs to?
(ז) בן עזאי אומר: "זה ספר תולדות אדם," זה כלל גדול בתורה.
ר' עקיבא אומר: "ואהבת לרעך כמוך," זה כלל גדול בתורה.
(1) Ben Azzai teaches: “This is the book of the generations of Adam [when G!d created man, G!d made him in the likeness of G!d]" is a great principle in the Torah.
(2) Rabbi Akiva teaches: This is a great principle of the Torah: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
What is Ben Azzai's great principle? What is Rabbi Akiva's? What are they arguing about? Are there significant differences that would follow from one or the other being the true "great principle" of the Torah?
(ג) מִצְוָה עַל כָּל אָדָם לֶאֱהֹב אֶת כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל כְּגוּפוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא יט יח) "וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ". לְפִיכָךְ צָרִיךְ לְסַפֵּר בְּשִׁבְחוֹ וְלָחוּס עַל מָמוֹנוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא חָס עַל מָמוֹן עַצְמוֹ וְרוֹצֶה בִּכְבוֹד עַצְמוֹ. וְהַמִּתְכַּבֵּד בִּקְלוֹן חֲבֵרוֹ אֵין לוֹ חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא:
(ד) אַהֲבַת הַגֵּר שֶׁבָּא וְנִכְנָס תַּחַת כַּנְפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה שְׁתֵּי מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה. אַחַת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא בִּכְלַל רֵעִים וְאַחַת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא גֵּר וְהַתּוֹרָה אָמְרָה (דברים י יט) "וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת הַגֵּר". צִוָּה עַל אַהֲבַת הַגֵּר כְּמוֹ שֶׁצִּוָּה עַל אַהֲבַת עַצְמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ו ה) "וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ". הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עַצְמוֹ אוֹהֵב גֵּרִים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים י יח) "וְאֹהֵב גֵּר":
(3) It is mandatory upon everyone to love each and every one of Israel even as he loves their own self, for it is said: "But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19.19.). One is therefore, obliged to speak in praise of his neighbor, and to be considerate of his money, even as he is considerate of his own money, or desires to preserve his own honor. "But whosoever glorifies himself in disgracing his neighbor has no share in the world to come"
(4) The love for the proselyte [ger], who came and embraced the protection beneath the wings of the Shekinah, rests upon two mandatory commandments:
One because they are included in the commandment concerning a neighbor, and the other because they are a ger, and the Torah charged us, saying: "Love ye therefore the ger" (Deut. 10.19.).
[Second] G!d commanded the love for the ger as G!d commanded concerning the love for G!d'self, saying: "And thou shalt love YHVH thy G!d" (Ibid. 6.5.). The Holy Blessed One, loves the gerim even more than G!d's self, even as it is said: "And [G!d] loves the stranger" (Ibid. 10.18).
What is the first mitzvah that Rambam identifies here? Do you see anything surprising? What do you think of his examples of what it would mean to love your neighbor?
What is the second mitzvah? Do you see anything surprising? What do you think/feel about his proofs for loving the ger?
(ב) לאהוב את חבירו דכתיב (ויקרא י״ט:י״ח) ואהבת לרעך כמוך ובכלל זה הבא' שלום שבין אדם לחבירו ומכריעו לכף זכות. לאהוב את חבירו אמר רבי עקיבא כלל גדול בתורה ואהבת לרעך כמוך. הוסיף בן עזאי ואמר גדול הימנו שנאמר כי בצלם אלהים עשה את האדם. פי' אע"פ שאינו מקפיד על כבוד עצמו יש לו להקפיד על כבוד חבירו:...
וגדול השלום שהרי הקב"ה שינה בו ואפילו ישראל עובדי עכו"ם ושלום ביניהם אין מדת הדין יכולה ליגע בהם:
[The eighth mitzvah of the Torah is] to love one's fellow as it is written, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And this is the principle - to bring peace between a person and their fellow and to make them judged favorable. On loving ones neighbor, Rabbi Akiva said this is a great principle of the Torah. Ben Azai added better than this is "In the Image of G!d, He created the Human." This means that even if one is not particular about their own honor, they should still honor one's friend...
So great is peace that The Holy Blessed One teaches it to Israel, to idol worshipers. [Peace is so great that] even the quality of judgement does not blunt it's [expression] between them [Jews and non-Jews].
Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil composed the Sefer Mitzvot Katan (c.1263 - c.1277 CE) as a halakhic compendium interspersed with ethical homilies, parables, and aggadot. The book is modeled after the "Sefer Mitzvot Gadol", but omits the lengthy discussions characterizing that work, providing instead a synopsis of each of the commandments along with some halakhic details.
Who does the SMaK see within the obligation to love? How does he make sense of the arguement between Ben Azai and Rabbi Akiva?
ויהיה שמח אפילו בעת צרותיו, ויאהב את כל הבריות אפילו גויים.
[Describing the personality traits of someone undergoing serious spiritual work], And they should be happy even at times of their suffering and they should love all of creation - even the non-Jews.
Chayyim Vital is not speaking here in the realm of halachah, but in terms of middot. What do you think makes him want to extend love to all creation?
(א) ואהבת לו כמוך: הגוים הקדמונים לא היו אוהבים רק את בני עמם, ולא היתה הונאת הנכרים נתעבת בעיניהם, לפיכך אמר כאן ואהבת לו כמוך, התנהג עמו כמו שתחפוץ שינהגו אחרים עמך אם היית גר.
(1) LOVE HIM LIKE YOURSELF: The nations of the ancient world would only love their own people, and they would defraud other peoples because they saw them as despicable foreigners. Therefore, it says here, that you need to love him like yourself, and act toward him just as you would want. You should act towards him as you would want other people to act toward you if you were a foreigner.
What is Samuel David Luzzatto's (c.1835 - c.1865 CE) interpretation here? Who do you think he is attacking as the nations of the ancient world? Who do you think his interpretation is in dialogue with in his day?
It is incumbent upon every [Jew] to love every fellow Jew as they love themselves, as it is said: "Love your neighbor as [you love] yourself."Leviticus 19:18. Therefore, you should relate [their] virtues and treat their property with [the same] concern as you have for your own property, or for your own honor. The person who glorifies them self in his neighbor's shame, even though his neighbor is not present and the humiliation has not reached him, and even if they have not actually insulted him, but only compared their own good deeds and their own wisdom with the good deeds or wisdom of his neighbor, so that from his statement he will be rated an honorable man and his neighbor as a despicable person, [this person] has no share in the World to Come unless he repents with perfect repentance.
What do you see the Kitzur adding to the Rambam? What questions might you have about how to enact this?
Read the following three texts and reflect on theology. What do they say about the nature of the Jew/person-loving-their-neighbor? What do they say about the neighbor? What do they say about the nature of G!d?
WHY SHOULD WE LOVE?
BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCE
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Faith in the Future, p. 78
"The Hebrew Bible contains the great command, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18), and this has often been taken as the basis of biblical morality. But it is not: it is only part of it. The Jewish sages noted that on only one occasion does the Hebrew Bible command us to love our neighbour, but in thirty-seven places it commands us to love the stranger. Our neighbour is one we love because he is like ourselves. The stranger is one we are taught to love precisely because he is not like ourselves.”
FILLING THE HOLES IN THE THRONE
Imrei Pinchas HaShalem
“[Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz] spoke at length about the love of Israel, [saying] that one must love every individual of Israel, and when you sees that someone hates you, you must love them more, for Israel is a Throne for the Shekhina [Presence of G-d] and for holiness. When - G-d forbid!—there is a rift between them, as it were, a hole, an empty space, is created in the Throne, and then, in this way, holiness falls into the
[power] of the ‘shells’ kelippot [of evil]—G-d forbid! Therefore one must love others a great deal in order to close up the empty space [in the Throne]. Let no one say: ‘I cannot enter into this quality’ for this is a lie. Certainly, by oneself, one may not be able to [do this], but with the help of the blessed G-d, one can attain to the service of the divine [and thus to the love of Israel]. This quality can bring the Messiah, i.e. by loving every person, even the completely wicked, for hatred without cause destroyed our Temple, and because of our sins, it is still ‘dancing’ among us. Therefore, one must strive to bring oneself to this quality”
JEWS AS THE QUINTESSENTIAL STRANGER
Loving the Stranger, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
It is terrifying in retrospect to grasp how seriously the Torah took the phenomenon of xenophobia, hatred of the stranger. It is as if the Torah were saying with the utmost clarity: reason is insufficient. Sympathy is inadequate. Only the force of history and memory is strong enough to form a counterweight to hate.
Why should you not hate the stranger? – asks the Torah. Because you once stood where he stands now. You know the heart of the stranger because you were once a stranger in the land of Egypt. If you are human, so is he. If he is less than human, so are you. You must fight the hatred in your heart as I once fought the greatest ruler and the strongest empire in the ancient world on your behalf. I made you into the world’s archetypal strangers so that you would fight for the rights of strangers – for your own and those of others, wherever they are, whoever they are, whatever the color of their skin or the nature of their culture, because though they are not in your image – says G-d – they are nonetheless in Mine. There is only one reply strong enough to answer the question: Why should I not hate the stranger? Because the stranger is me.
גם הזהיר מורי ז"ל לי, ולכל החברים שהיינו עמו בחברה ההיא, שקודם תפלת שחרית, נקבל עלינו מ"ע של ואהבת לרעך כמוך, ויכוין לאהוב לכל אחד מישראל כנפשו, כי עי"ז תעלה תפלתו כלולה מכל ישראל, ותוכל לעלות ולעשות תקון למעלה. ובפרט אהבת החברים שלנו, צריך כל אחד ואחד ממנו לכלול עצמו כאלו הוא אבר אחד מן החברים האלו. ולמאד הזהירני מורי ז"ל בענין זה, ואם איזה חבר ח"ו שעומד בצרה, או יש לו איזה חולה בביתו, או בבניו, ישתתף בצערו, ויתפלל עליו, וכן בכל דבריו ישתתף לכל חבריו עמו:
And the [Arizal] my teacher cautioned me that all of the friends in our group - before she prays Shacharit, that she should receive upon herself the positive mitzvah of loving one's neighbor as oneself. And she should intend to love each Israelite like her own nefesh (body/soul), because by means of this one can elevate her prayers to be included with all of Israel and is able to raise up and make a rectification above.
And in particular she should love our friends. And each and every one of us must include himself as if he were a a limb of these friends. And he cautioned us a great deal about this issue and if one friend was (G!d forbid) stuck or if there was a sick person in one's house or one of their children, that she [the pray-er] should connect herself to their suffering and pray upon it. And thus in all of her words, she should be connected to all her friends.
כתיב לא תקום ולא תטור את בני עמך.היך עבידא? הוה מקטע קופד ומחת סכינא לידוי - תחזור ותמחי לידי?!
It is written "Do not bear a grudge, do not take revenge against your kin" How is this achieved? It is analogous to a person cutting a piece of meat, and he cuts his hand in the process, would he consider taking revenge on the hand that cut!?
Commentary of Leviticus 19:18 by Rabbi Raphael Samson Hirsch
"Love your neighbor's well-being as if it were your own; I am God," is the summarizing final maxim for the whole of our social behavior, in feelings, word, and deed. Hillel’s interpretation of this as: “That which is hateful to you don’t do to someone else” imposes complete equality of all as the guiding principle of all of our deeds, makes everyone take to heart the weal and woe of everybody else, changes selfishness…into consideration and love of one’s neighbor. The concept of “your neighbor” extends the ideas beyond the narrow confines of your fellow men to the idea of fellow creatures, so that in fact this sentence does contain the contents of the whole Torah, which indeed is nothing else, but the teaching of avoiding everything which is contrary and hateful to the happiness and well-being of ourselves and to that of the fellow creatures who enjoy existence down here in this world.
Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind (2011), pp. 310-311
[According to Robert Putnam and David Campbell’s book, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us], “By many different measures religiously observant Americans are better neighbors and better citizens than secular Americans—they are more generous with their time and money, especially in helping the needy, and they are more active in community life.” Why are religious people better neighbors and citizens? To find out, Putnam and Campbell included on one of their surveys a long list of questions about religious beliefs (e.g. “Do you believe in hell? Do you agree that we will all be called before God to answer for our sins?”) as well as questions about religious practices (e.g., “How often do you read holy scriptures? How often do you pray?”). These beliefs and practices turned out to matter very little. Whether you believe in hell, whether you pray daily, whether you are a Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or Mormon… none of these things correlated with generosity. The only thing that reliably and powerfully associated with the moral benefits of religion was how enmeshed people were in relationships with their co-religionists. It’s the friendships and group activities, carried out within a moral matrix that emphasizes selflessness. That’s what brings out the best in people. Putnam and Campbell reject the New Atheist emphasis on belief and reach a conclusion straight out of Durkheim: ‘It is religious belongingness that matters for neighborliness, not religious believing.’
II. רֵעַ187 noun masculineProverbs 17:17 friend, companion, fellow; — ׳ר absolute 2 Samuel 13:3 +, construct 1 Chronicles 27:33; suffix רֵעִי Job 31:9 +, רֵעְַךָ Deuteronomy 5:17 +, רֵעֶ֑ךָ Exodus 2:13 +, also רֵעֶיךָ 2 Samuel 12:11 (singular; Ges§ 93ss), רֵעֵ֫הוּ (Ges§ 84 a i) Genesis 11:3 114t., רֵעוֺ Jeremiah 6:21, רֵעָהּ, Jeremiah 3:30; plural רֵעִים Jeremiah 3:1 +, construct רֵעֵי Job 2:11; suffix רֵעָיו Job 32:3, רֵעֵ֫הו (Ges§ 91k) Job 42:10; 1 Samuel 30:26, etc.; —
l. friend, intimate, Genesis 38:12,20(J), 1 Samuel 30:26; 2 Samuel 13:3; 1 Kings 16:11 (ᵐ5 omitted); רִעֲךָ אֲשֶׁר כְּנַפְשְׁךָ Deuteronomy 13:7, מֶתֶק רֵעֵהוּ Proverbs 27:9 (text dubious see Toy); Micah 7:5 ("" אַלוּף), Jeremiah 9:3 ("" אָח), Jeremiah 19:9; Lamentations 1:2 ( + אֹהֲבֶיהָ), Psalm 35:14 ("" אָח) + 3 t. Psalms; especially Job 2:11; Job 6:14 8t. Job; Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 18:24 8t. Proverbs ( Proverbs 12:26 see מֵרֵעַ below), Songs 5:1 ("" דּוֺדִים); associates Zechariah 3:8; technical term הַמֶּלֶךְ ׳ר 1 Chronicles 27:33 (see רֵעֶה), compare 2 Samuel 16:17 (twice in verse); of lover Songs 5:16 ("" דּוֺדִי), husband Jeremiah 3:20, paramours Hosea 3:1; Jeremiah 3:1; metaphor רֵעַ לִבְנוֺת יַעֲנָה Job 30:29 ("" אָח לְתַנִּים).
2 in weaker sense, fellow, fellow-citizen, even another person,, with whom one stands in reciprocal relations, Exodus 2:13; Exodus 20:16,17 (3 t. in verse) (Gi Exodus 20:13; Exodus 20:14; Exodus 20:14; Exodus 20:14) = Deuteronomy 5:17,18 (3 t. in verse), Exodus 21:14; Exodus 22:7; Exodus 22:8; Exodus 22:10; Exodus 22:25 (all E), Leviticus 19:13,16,18; Leviticus 20:10 (all H), Deuteronomy 4:42; Deuteronomy 15:2 (twice in verse) + 11 t. Deuteronomy; Joshua 20:5 (D), Judges 7:14; Jeremiah 9:7; Jeremiah 22:13; Jeremiah 29:23; Ezekiel 18:6,11,15; Ezekiel 22:11,12; Habakkuk 2:15; Job 16:21; Ruth 4:7; Psalm 15:3; Psalm 28:3; Psalm 101:5; Proverbs 3:28,29; Proverbs 6:1 ("" זָר !) + 18 t. Proverbs; וְרֵעוֺ שָׁכֵן Jeremiah 6:21; 1 Samuel 15:28 hath given (the kingdom) to thy fellow, = another than thou, so 1 Samuel 28:17; 2 Samuel 12:11; so also אִישׁ ֗֗֗ רֵעֵהוּ a (given, certain) man over against his fellow (different from 3) Exodus 21:18,35; Exodus 22:6; Exodus 22:9; Exodus 22:13; Exodus 33:11 (all E), Deuteronomy 19:11; Deuteronomy 22:26; Judges 7:13; 1 Kings 8:31; 1 Kings 20:35; Jeremiah 7:5; 1 Chronicles 6:22; Ruth 3:14; Ecclesiastes 4:4; similarly שָׂעִיר אֶלרֵֿעֵהוּ Isaiah 34:14.
3 in reciprocal phrase אִישׁ ֗֗֗ רֵעֵהו Genesis 11:3 they said one to another (אִישׁ distributive), each the speech of the other Genesis 11:7, absent one from the other Genesis 31:49, compare Genesis 43:33 (all J), Exodus 11:2; Exodus 18:7,16; Exodus 32:27 (all E), Judges 6:29; Judges 7:22; Judges 10:18; 2 Samuel 2:16 (twice in verse) + 4 t. 1Samuel; 2 Kings 3:23; 2 Kings 7:3,9; 2Chronicles 20:23; Isaiah 3:5 ("" אִישׁ בְּאִישׁ), Isaiah 13:8; Isaiah 19:2 ("" אִישׁ בְּאָתִיו) Isaiah 41:6; Jeremiah 5:8 11t. Jeremiah; Ezekiel 33:26; Zechariah 3:10 6t. Zechariah (Zechariah 11:6 read רֹעֵהוּ StaZAW i (1881), 26); Malachi 3:16; Jonah 1:7; so of things Genesis 15:10 (J). — I. רֵעַ see רוע. p.929 below