Rabbi David Ackerman
Parshat Kedoshim
They’re arguably the most famous verses in the Hebrew Bible:
You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart.
Reprove your kin but incur no guilt on their account.
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people.
Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself: I am Adonai.
[Leviticus 19:17-18]
“Don’t hate” on the one end, “love” on the other. But notice four different terms for the object of my (or your) love or hate — “kinsfolk,” “kin,” “members of your people” and “fellow.” What, really, does it mean to love? And who, exactly, is my neighbor?
Rabbi Simha Zissel of Kelm (19th-century Lithuania), a founder of the modern Mussar movement, teaches that “love one’s neighbor” means “carrying the burden of our fellow.” In plain(er) English: Loving one’s neighbor involves taking responsibility with and for another.
My teacher, Rabbi Ira Stone, reframes the question: “Who is the person for whom I am responsible?” And his startling answer: “Our ‘neighbor’ is a constantly expanding category. The one who is closest to us, literally our beloved, is our first neighbor. But the very experience of such a responsibility itself increases our need for such responsibility, driving the list outward to include family, friends, ethnic and national affinities, and, ideally, all of humanity and all of creation.”
It’s tempting to think of “love your neighbor as yourself” as a sentimental greeting card slogan. The Mussar tradition teaches us that it’s anything but; rather, love and responsibility for ourselves, for our loved ones, for our community, for our people, for our country, for all of humanity, is the commitment to which the Torah calls us. Fulfilling this mitzvah is the work of a lifetime.
Notable commentaries:
Our Sages taught: One of the methods by which the Torah is acquired is by carrying the burden of our fellow … To reach the level of being one bears the burden of one’s fellow is impossible unless one has accustomed oneself to love one’s neighbor in thought and deed … Our Sages well understood that “To love your neighbor as yourself, this is the great principle of the Torah” (Bereshit Rabbah 24:8). For a person of spirit, the master of a fine soul, the soul is attached to the Torah through love, through observance in thought and deed. [Rabbi Simha Zissel of Kelm, Hokhmah u-Mussar]
Who is our neighbor? The answer to this question is never definitive, but rather evolving.
The word for “neighbor” in Hebrew, re’a, is derived from the same root as the word for “pasturing” or “shepherding.” The definition of “my neighbor” thus might be: the person for whom I am responsible … Who is the person for whom I am responsible? … If we have an insatiable desire (re’ut in Hebrew) to meet the needs of those for whom we are responsible, and this becomes the very intentionality of our consciousness, then the answer to our question must be that our “neighbor” is a constantly expanding category. The one who is closest to us, literally our beloved, is our first neighbor.
But the very experience of such a responsibility itself increases our need for such responsibility, driving the list outward to include family, friends, ethnic and national affinities and, ideally, all of humanity and all of creation. [Rabbi Ira Stone, “A Responsible Life,” pp. 25-26]
Hate is not just an emotion, but implies a mental activity, namely, plotting countermeasures. [Jacob Milgrom, “Anchor Bible,” Leviticus, p. 1,646]
But if he reveals to him his hatred and the other thus knows that he is his enemy, he doesn’t transgress this prohibition but “Do not take revenge or nurse a grudge,” and he also transgresses the performative commandment, “You shall love your fellow as yourself.” However, the heart’s hatred is the greater sin. [Rabbi Moses Maimonides, Sefer ha-Mitzvot, Negative #302]
And love your neighbor; for what is hateful to you yourself, do not do to him, I am the Lord. [Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Leviticus 19:18] T
David Ackerman serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Am Israel and as co-president of the Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia. The Board of Rabbis is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.