As we enter this week’s Torah reading, we encounter what scholars consider to be one of the oldest sections of the Bible and what is at the core of what it means to be Jewish – the holiness code. Kedoshim tihyu – says the Torah: “You will be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." A remarkable invitation to the world of Jewish spirituality - one that captures the imagination of most rabbinic commentators – the Torah lists the many ways to fulfill this commandment that spans across a multitude of categories: ritual, warning against all types of theft, extortion, and business deception, familial relations, caution about speaking gossip and many more. Among the many commandments explicated in this week's Torah portion, perhaps none is more ubiquitous than the phrase that Rabbi Akiba later hails as the greatest principle of all of Torah: "V’ahavta l’re’echa kamocha - Love your neighbor as yourself."
Seemingly, this Mitzvah is very difficult to understand. Out of this one short verse and one great command come so many questions that beg so many questions throughout the ages. The Torah does not say, "your neighbor" (which is shachen, in Hebrew), but rather, "your companion," or "your fellow" (re’ah). Just, what does it mean? Who is the companion of whom the Torah speaks? How can a person be commanded to love another – is not love beyond a commandment? If a person has low self esteem and treats him or herself without love, does this mean s/he can also treat another equally as negatively? And, is it really possible to love another person in the same way and to same degree as one loves him or herself? Does loving my fellow Jew as myself mean I have to feel the exact degree of emotional closeness to another Jew as I feel towards myself?
Nachmanidies (Ramban), the great medieval commentator, speaks of the unrealistic demands this mitzvah makes on a person. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself', he says, acknowledges that most people cannot feel the same love for others as they feel for themselves. In a remarkably close reading of the text, he points out that the literal translation of the verse is "love to your close companion as yourself" (with the prefix of the Hebrew letter lamed). Therefore, he teaches, it is not talking about a feeling of emotional closeness, but a mode of action and behavior with regard to one’s companions or fellows. In other words, it means that one should wish that other people enjoy the same high degrees of success, achievement, and prosperity as each of us wants for ourselves.
Most of us would readily admit that we wish others well. Yet, it is so much more difficult to genuinely want for others to have equal to what we have. There are times when we don’t even realize that our sense of competition, our pride, or perhaps even our fear grow ever so slowly, making it difficult for us to identify the good feelings we have for someone whose success equals or surpasses our own. So, the Torah reminds us that it is not only nice to genuinely want others to realize their own success and prosperity – it is necessary for our survival as a people, as a society, and as individuals. The more we recognize others’ successes, the more we identify with them and with their unique gifts. Out of that, we are able to help ourselves develop feelings of emotional closeness as well – with the other person, with ourselves and with God.
So, on this Shabbat, may we all find it in ourselves to wish our fellows Jews, our companions, and our neighbors the best that life has to offer just as we hope and pray that we, too, will experience life’s jewels.
Shabbat Shalom.