Rabbi Roodyn

This week’s sedra contains the well-known ‘golden rule’ of “ve’ahavta le reyacha kamocha”, to love your friend as yourself. This principle is part of almost every culture in one way or another, but the Torah has a unique perspective on this universal rule.

One major principle of Torah study is that there are no unnecessary words in the Torah. So a close look at the actual pasuk in Vayikra 19:18 actually reveals a shocking number of redundancies. The verse says “…you shall love your friend as yourself. I am Hashem.” It could have simply said, ‘Love your friend’, why does it need to add the words, ‘as yourself’ and furthermore what does the ending ‘I am Hashem’ add to our understanding?

One way of answering this is by taking a look at how the Rambam codifies this mitzvah. After informing us that there is a mitzvah to love our fellow, he then says, ‘Therefore, one should speak the praises of [others] and show concern for their money just as he is concerned with his own money and seeks his own honour. Whoever gains honour through the degradation of a friend does not have a share in the world to come.’ (Hilchot De’ot 6:3). Why does he feel the need to add the last line about gaining honour from others’ degradation?

Perhaps the reason is that he is initially telling us how to perform the mitzvah and he is then telling us how to avoid transgressing it. This too, requires further analysis: why would someone wish to gain honour from someone else’s degradation?

One possible reason is that this stems from an attitude of seeing oneself as being in competition with others, ‘I need you to lose in order for me to win’. This competitive attitude of ‘world records’ is antithetical to Judaism. G-d created each and every one of us as distinct, different individuals, each one of us with our unique personalities, skill sets, talents and challenges. Every human being has a unique role to play in Hashem’s world. Put simply, Judaism is a system of personal bests rather than world records.

If I can love myself for who I am, I can love others for who they are. If I see myself as a unique child of Hashem, then others are too.

As the pasuk so beautifully says (with no redundant words at all) ‘… you shall love your friend as yourself. I am Hashem.’

Wishing you a Good Shabbos