Loving Your Fellow Is The Whole Torah

We are at that time of year again, when dark clouds can be seen on the horizon. For the past 2000 years, the three weeks beginning on the 17^th of Tammuz mark the saddest days in Jewish history. Our Sages teach us that our predicament of exile depends on our ability to repair a severe breach of nationhood; we must love our fellow like we love our self. As Rabbi Akiva said, this is the foundational teaching of the Torah.

The Talmud relates a story of a heathen who wanted to convert to Judaism. He made his way to the great sage Shammai and said, “I am interested in converting to Judaism, but only on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while standing on one leg.” Shammai rejected the heathen’s plea for conversion in response to what he felt was gross disrespect to the Torah. The heathen then made his way over to the great sage Hillel, and made the same request, “I am interested in converting to Judaism, but only on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while standing on one leg.” From the strange request, Hillel realized that the man was a sincere convert looking to define Judaism’s most basic maxim. Hillel thus answered him, “Whatever actions or experiences you find distasteful, make sure not do them to your friend. This is the entire Torah and everything else is commentary and details.”

Rabbi Akiva was particularly aware of this maxim when his students inappropriately disregarded it. There is another time of the year that is treated as a mourning period for the whole nation, when 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students perished because of a lack of respect for their peers. How could the prized students of such a great sage lack so basic a principle of Judaism? How could the Jewish nation remain 2000 years in exile without repairing this basic breach to its own fabric? Maybe the right question is, what does it mean to truly love your fellow like yourself?

There is a very interesting Rambam in Hilchot Deot that goes as follows: The Torah gives us an active commandment to love every ben-Adam (person) like our own self, as is written “and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Rambam says that this commandment is translated into actuality when we follow up or generate love with action. He lists verbally praising each other and caring about each other’s possessions and financial welfare as integral components of fulfilling the commandment to “love thy neighbor.” It’s not enough to just say hello from a distance and offer the occasional smile. Loving another person means being devoted to his or her welfare. It means one’s actions do not infringe on the happiness and wellbeing of another.

The next component of true Love discussed by the Rambam is kavod (honor). Kavod is one of the mandatory needs of the Neshama (soul). The Torah teaches us that “every soul will praise G-d, Halleluiah,” even in the next world. Praising Hashem is the source of the soul’s kavod, and since the soul is destined to sing praise to Hashem forever, kavod is an inseparable aspect of its existence. Furthermore, our sages teach us that the soul comes from Hashem Himself, “from underneath the Kisei Hakavod.” Hashem is also called “Melech Hakavod (the Honorable King), therefore the essence of the soul is kavod. Our sages teach us that we should always run away from self-honor. However when it comes to our friends honor, we should always give with an open hand.

The Mitsvah (commandment) of loving our fellow is directly tied to our final redemption, as the Torah teaches us in Sefer Malachi that “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the L-rd. He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents…” (3:23-24). May Hashem bless us so that we merit the final Redemption, and may Hashem “…wipe the tears away from every face and put an end to the reproach of His people (Isiah 25:8)”, Amen v’Amen.

 By Adam Suionov