Parshas Kedoshim: The Golden Rule

"...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, I am your G-d.", Leviticus 19:18

“Rabbi Akiba stated that this mitzvah encompasses the entire Torah” –Rashi ibid

The Jewish Golden Rule (a.k.a. ethics of reciprocity) was coined by the famed sage Hillel. The Talmud (Shabbos 31a) relates how a non-Jew seeking to convert asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah on one foot. Hillel responded, “What is hateful to you; do not do unto your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary. Go and study it (the Torah)." The commentary Kli Yakar is very bothered with this exchange. How can a seemingly sincere potential convert expect to be taught the Torah on one foot? The Torah is so vast that it’s virtually impossible to fully learn the entire Torah. We attempt to study as much Torah as possible, and we are surely aware that Torah study is a lifetime endeavor. Was this person so ignorant of the Torah’s value that he believed it can be acquired while standing on one foot like a flamingo?

Kli Yakar explains that this man was advanced in his age, and he realized that his prime years for studying Torah had passed. The man wanted to be given a memory aid to help him recall everything. He therefore requested to be taught the primary rule, hence the employment of the term, Torah on one foot.

The prophet Habakkuk had a different Golden Rule. His rule is “the righteous shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4) Kli Yakar maintains that Hillel is in total agreement with Habakkuk. There were two tablets given to the Jewish people through Moses. The first tablets dealt with the commandments between G-d and man, and the second tablet addressed interpersonal matters. Hillel was telling this potential convert the golden rule vis-à-vis interpersonal relations. However that golden rule is not complete without looking at the source of the rule in this week’s parsha. The command is mentioned to love thy neighbor. After we are told to love our neighbors, G-d reiterates that He is our G-d. What is the place for that mention here? The reason we are reminded about G-d is in order that we don’t get so caught up in human love, that we forget the reason we are required to love each other: because we are all created in G-d’s image. Those people who never read the conclusion of the verse erroneously state that, "Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." That statement is heresy! The truth is that Hillel never intended to create a world of peace, love, and brotherhood as a goal unto itself. He rather concurred with Habakkuk that neighborly love is only required because we are created and bound by the same G-d.

Many commentaries derive the mandate to help our fellow unobservant Jews find their way back to their spiritual roots from this verse of loving our fellow neighbors. We only want the best for everybody, so the greatest gift a Jew can be given is the directions back home. May we all be blessed to find our way back home.