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Love Your Neighbour

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Devorah Teitelbaum (SFW '09)

In this week’s Parsha, we learn about the Mitzvah of VeAhavta LeRayacha Kamocha (Love your fellow neighbor). The Torah tells us: “you shall love your fellow man as you love yourself.” (Vayikra 19:18). Rabbi Akiva said in the Gemara that this is a fundamental rule of the Torah. What is so significant about this commandment, that it is considered a fundamental rule of the Torah?

Many commentators explain that this commandment is extremely significant as it teaches us to focus on others, and not just ourselves. We can learn from this commandment to treat others with the utmost love, respect, and consideration. In the same way we love ourselves instinctively without looking for reasons, so too we should love others the same way.

Hillel, a Sage, later paraphrased this commandment, saying, “what is hateful to you, do not do unto others” (Shabbat 31a). It seems, that based on this statement, Hillel is focusing on hate, as opposed to the original commandment, which focused on love. This seems to negate the lessons we just learned from the commentators. Why would Hillel do this?

Hillel’s readjustment of this commandment actually helps us focus on the real essence of this Mitzvah. Hillel added the word “others” to this commandment, which implies that there are multiple members of society. The original commandment of “love your fellow man as you love yourself” is one of the rare instances of commandments that we cannot do alone. The point is not merely just to treat others with love, respect, and consideration, but to have others around you so that you may love, respect, and be considerate of them. Hillel was saying that Judaism thrives and depends on having a community of others around us, so that we can sharpen our relationships with each other (and thereby improve our relationship with Hashem Himself).

It is very fitting that this idea comes out during Sefirat HaOmer. Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 students all of whom died during this time, because they did not treat each other with respect. We can learn from this how important it is to treat others around us with the utmost love, respect, and consideration they deserve.