Ziv: Parashat Kedoshim 2

You shall love your neighbor as yourself

According to the commentary of the sages (Hazal), this week’s parasha is the foundation upon which most of the law relies. In it we find one of the best known commandments of all of Scripture: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18) - a verse which represents the culmination of the commandments surrounding it, and indeed, according to many, is the central commandment of them all. In order to reach this commandment, the parasha begins with an instruction by God to Moses: “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). On this verse Rashi comments succinctly: “[This] teaches us that this passage was stated in the assembly [of the entire congregation of Israel] because most of the fundamental teachings of the Torah are dependent on it”. Rashi’s explanation only raises more questions: all of the commandments spoken to the children of Israel were obviously “stated to the entire congregation of Israel” - why, then, did Rashi give this fact such special mention here? The answer, according to the “Maor VaShemeh” commentary, is that the logic of “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” is far from obvious. Holiness implies separation - God is indeed holy - He is the creator and is separated from, and above, this world. How therefore can I be holy? Should I separate myself from the world? It is precisely in order to avoid this error that this passage was said to the entire congregation as a unit: “you [all, together] shall be holy…” - you, the congregation being as a single body of Israel.

This logic is then pursued in the following verses: reverence of mother and father - a person’s first “neighbor”, the keeping of the Sabbath - the day of congregating together (Leviticus 19:3), avoidance of Idolatry by which other people might stumble (Leviticus 19:4), the eating of sacrifices needs to happen in very short order - so that one should invite others to the table (Leviticus 19:5-8). In harvest, sustenance should be left for the weakest members of society (Leviticus 19:9-10), moral rectitude towards one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19:11-16) and not even “[hating] your brother in your heart” (Leviticus 19:17) - all culminating in the key to holiness: the love of one’s neighbor as oneself. A person’s holiness is dependent on the holiness of his neighbor, and it is in our care for one another and our rectitude of life together according to the will of God that holiness is achieved. Shabbat Shalom.