Acharey Mot/Kedoshim
You shall not take revenge
and not bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your
neighbor as yourself. I am Hashem. (VaYikra 19:18)
1. The challenge of loving one’s neighbor
to the standard proscribed by the Torah
These passages instruct us that we may not take revenge or bear a grudge
against another and that we are required to love one another. The pasuk
delineates two prohibited forms of behavior: taking revenge and bearing a
grudge. What is the difference between
these two forms of behavior? Our Sages
explain that taking revenge is more direct.
It involves acting towards a person in the same hurtful manner that one
has been treated by this person. For
example: I ask to borrow from a friend
his pen and he refuses. The next day
this friend needs to borrow a pen from me.
I remind the friend of his response to my request the previous day and
refuse the pen. This is taking
revenge. Bearing a grudge is more passive. In the above example, if I lend the pen but point out to the friend that I am
not behaving as he behaved to me, this is bearing a grudge.[1] Bearing a grudge is prohibited because it
too is a form of hatred. As the second portion of the passage teaches, we are
to love one another.
The pasuk’s directive to love one another
is remarkable in two respects. First, the passage instructs us to love our
neighbor as we love ourselves. This is a wonderful goal. However, our Sages noted that it does not
seem to be a very realistic objective.
Certainly, we should try to overcome the pettiness and self-centeredness
that often interfere with our empathy, compassion, and love for others. But a
directive to love another person to the degree one loves oneself seems to
require the impossible.
Second, our Sages did not regard this directive as a
mere ethical exhortation – an appeal to act with love towards others. The Sages regarded this directive as an
absolute commandment. It is included in
the Torah’s 613 mitzvot. This compounds the first difficulty. Torah is not only establishing an impossible
standard of behavior, it is commanding us to achieve the impossible!
2. Loving one’s
neighbor focuses on actions not feelings
Various commentaries suggest different answers to
these problems. Rabbaynu Avraham ibn
Ezra explains that the meaning of the instruction is that we should love those
things that benefit our friends as we love those things that benefit ourselves. In other words, the Torah is not suggesting
that we actually feel for our friends the same love we feel for ourselves. This would not be realistic. The Torah is establishing a standard of
behavior. We must be as scrupulous in
caring for the needs of our neighbor as we are in caring for our own needs.[2] This remains a high standard, but it does
not contradict human nature.
Although Ibn Ezra’s interpretation of the passage is
somewhat helpful, it is also somewhat vague.
What exactly does the passage require?
Does it mean that if I need a new home for myself, I must also provide
housing for all homeless individuals?
3. The
centrality of the commandment to love one’s neighbor
There is a well-known teaching of Hillel that may
explain Ibn Ezra’s position. Hillel
explained that a person should not do to another person that which he would not
want done to himself. Hillel went on to
explain that the remainder of the Torah is merely an elaboration of this
principle.[3]
Hillel’s lesson is empirically compelling. Many of society’s problems could be solved if
this principle were universally adopted.
But Hillel’s contention that this is the essence of the Torah and the
rest is merely an elaboration seems to be an overstatement. Perhaps, Hillel did not intend for this last
part of his teaching to be taken literally; he was not suggesting that it is
okay to deny Hashem’s existence as long as you are nice to people. But if Hillel did not intend for his
statement to be understood literally, what was the message he was attempting to
communicate?
Sefer HaChinuch suggests that Hillel noted that so
many of the mitzvot of the Torah are
designed to regulate relations among people.
We are not permitted to steal.
We cannot overcharge. We are
prohibited from engaging in various deceptive business practices. We must return lost objects. All of the commandments are designed to
foster and encourage harmony among the individual members of society. Hillel recognized that all of these laws are
amplifications of a single theme. They
attempt to create a society in which all members have equal rights to fair and
compassionate treatment by one another.
All of these laws are designed to prevent one member of the group from
taking advantage of another. Hillel
explained that we each to treat our friends as we wish to be treated, all of
these laws would be superfluous.[4],[5]
Sefer HaChinuch’s comments provide an explanation of
Ibn Ezra’s position. We are not
expected to be as solicitous of the needs of others as we are of our own
needs. However, we are expected to
regard his needs as being as serious and real as our own. Therefore, we need not provide shelter for
the homeless before building a home for ourselves. We have every right to care for our own needs first. But we cannot dismiss other’s needs as
insignificant. When the poor require
our assistance, we cannot be dismissive.
Certainly, I cannot place my rights before those of another person. I must respect those rights as I would
expect my own to be respected.
We can only recognize the full implication of this
commandment if we acknowledge that this is not our usual attitude. If we are honest, we will admit that
although we do not dismiss our friend’s needs, we tend to see them as somewhat
less compelling than our own. If we
honestly review our interactions with others, we will be able to identify
behaviors that place our needs above others.
The Torah is commanding us to identify these behaviors and correct them.
In short, according to Sefer HaChinuch, we are
required to respect other’s rights and needs as we do our own. This attitude fosters harmony within a group
or society. In a society in which the
attitude is not present, there will be friction and discord.
4. We are all fingers of a single hand
Rav Naftali Tzvi Berlin Zt”l – Netziv – offers an
alternative understanding of the objective of this commandment. He begins by quoting a teaching from the
Jerusalem Talmud. The Talmud observes
that we are forbidden from taking vengeance.
The Talmud explains that vengeance is absurd. This is illustrated with
an analogy. A person is cutting meat;
his hand holding the knife slips and he cuts his other hand. Would the person then take punish the hand
that slipped by cutting it as well? The
Talmud concludes by explaining that this is the message of our passage. We may not take vengeance because we must
love one another. We are all similar to
the fingers of a single hand, or limbs of a single body. If we take vengeance upon another person –
even to redress a wrong – we are cutting one of our own limbs. [6],
[7]
It seems that Netziv is explaining that the mitzvah to love one another is not
merely designed to serve a practical purpose.
It is not designed to assure order and harmony in society. It has a higher
purpose. It is designed to reorient our
perspective upon ourselves. We are
commanded to refrain from vengeance and to love one another in order to foster
within ourselves a healthy and truthful perspective. We must recognize that we are members of a group and nation. This does not mean the individual is not important,
or that a person’s sense of individual significance is improper. But our sense of our own individual
importance cannot overwhelm our realization and acknowledgement that we are
also part of Bnai Yisrael.
In summary:
According to Sefer HaChinuch, the mitzvah
to love one another is essentially a social contract. It is designed to foster harmony. According to Netziv, the commandment is designed to nurture
within each person a healthy and truthful perspective on himself. Each of us must be able to see ourselves as
a member of a group and nation.
[1] Rabbaynu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer VaYikra 19:18.
[2] Rabbaynu Avraham ibn Ezra, Commentary on Sefer VaYikra 19:18.
[3] Mesechet Shabbat 31a.
[4] Rav Aharon HaLeyve, Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 243.
[5] If the principle of loving one’s neighbor as oneself finds its expression in the many commandments that regulate our interactions, then the commandment seems to be superfluous! Why is such a commandment required if its practical applications are legislated by other commandments? Apparently, this commandment provides guidance in situations that are not directly included in the specific derivative commandments. In other words, the specific commandments regulating our interactions cannot address ever particular circumstance that may arise. Therefore, the Torah expresses the underlying principle – to love one’s neighbor as oneself – as a commandment. This general commandment provides us with direction and guidance in instances not specifically addressed by the derivative commandments.
[6] Talmud Yerushalmi, Mesechet Nedarim 9:4.
[7] Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (Netziv), Commentary Hamek Davar on Sefer VaYikra 19:18.