According to Rabbi Akiva, it is the fundamental rule of the Torah. For many today — Jews and non-Jews alike — it’s the universal moral commandment. It shows up in this week’s parshat Kedoshim. In Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18, it reads, “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha” — “You shall love your fellow/neighbor as yourself.” Yet, it is perhaps the most misunderstood commandment in the Torah.
On its face, its meaning seems straightforward. Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. After all, everyone is made in the image of God. The Art Scroll Interlinear commentary has a few suggestions — treat others with respect, greet them with friendliness, give them the benefit of the doubt, etc.
The French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas wrote extensively on the subject. In his book “Difficult Freedom,” he asked, “What does the voice of Israel say, and how can it be translated into a few propositions?” He answered, “One must follow the Most High God and be faithful to Him alone. One follows the Most High God above all by drawing near to one’s fellow man. My uniqueness lies in the responsibility I display for the Other.”
Some, however, prefer a more expansive meaning of the verse — to not just treat your neighbor with respect, but to love your neighbor — and to love not just your neighbor, but to love everyone, including even those who may hurt you.
Judaism has a different view — a view that seems more realistic. According to the story in the Talmud, Hillel, when asked by a non-Jew to convert him, responded, “Do not do unto others what you would not want done unto you. The rest is commentary. Now go study.” Hillel was suggesting the inverse of “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha” — in effect espousing a lower bar for our central moral commandment.
Actually, there’s another verse in parshat Kedoshim that suggests an even lower bar. In chapter 19, verse 17, it says that “you shall not hate your brother in your heart.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his commentary, has an interesting take on this. He says, “The inner logic of the two verses — ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ … and ‘Do not hate your brother’ — is this: Love your neighbor as yourself, but not all neighbors are lovable … God does not command you to be angels without any of the emotions natural to human beings. He does, however, forbid you to hate.”
What about reacha? Are we commanded to love our neighbors, our fellow Jews, everyone? The word reacha does show up elsewhere in Torah. For example, in Exodus, in parshat Shemot, when Moses confronted the two Hebrews who were fighting, Moses asked the guilty one, “Why are you striking your own neighbor?” – using the word reacha. The word appears to be limited in its connotation.
Actually, there’s another verse in our parshah, chapter 19, verse 34, that says “The ger — the stranger — who dwells with you shall be like a native among you and you shall love him like yourself.” By singling out the ger in this verse, the Torah is perhaps implying that the ger is not included in “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha,” again limiting our notion of reacha.
Incidentally, lest one think that we are commanded to love the stranger even if he follows other laws, the ger needs to follow the commandments just like the native Jew does. In chapter 19, verse 26, it says, “You shall safeguard My decrees and My judgments, and not commit any of these abominations – the native or the ger who lives among you.”
And what about our enemies? Having enemies is, of course, Biblical — and God often did not show much mercy. In Exodus, in parshat Mishpatim, when God sent an angel ahead of the Israelites to watch over them, God said, “I will be an enemy to your enemies, a foe to your foes.” In Numbers, in parshat Beha’alotecha, when the Ark would journey forth, Moses said, “Arise, Hashem, may your enemies be scattered, may your foes be put to flight” — which is what we say today (in Hebrew) when we open the ark for the Torah service. It appears that we are not being asked to love our enemies. Quite the contrary.
While consideration of the Other is a moral commandment, we are not being asked to preoccupy ourselves with the Other to the detriment of ourselves, particularly when the Other does not share our values or, worse, when the Other is our enemy. After all, our verse does say “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Norman Podhoretz, for many years the renowned editor-in-chief of Commentary magazine, talked about this in a speech he gave in 1995. “Like so many of us, I was educated to believe that the last thing one ought to be defending was one’s own, that it was more honorable and nobler to turn one’s back on one’s own and fight for others. This has been a very hard lesson to unlearn, and I am proud to have unlearned it.”
We are being commanded to be kind to others, but we are not being asked to be angels, especially when dealing with those who do not share our values, including those who are our enemies. “V’ahavta l’reacha kamocha” is an important commandment, but, as our tradition teaches, we need to be realistic.
Curt Biren, an investment advisor in LA, has written for First Things, Religion & Liberty, The American Mind, and the Journal of Markets and Morality.
