BOSTONER TORAH INSIGHTS III
BOSTONER ‘CHASSIDUS’ TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
PARSHAS ACHREI MOS KEDOSHIM – 8 IYAR 5780
Bostoner Rebbe shlit”a – Yerushalayim
Secretariat Email: [1]
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“Speak to the entire assembly of Bnei Yisroel and say to them: You shall
be holy because holy am I, Hashem Elokechem” (Vayikra 19:2). Rashi
explains that this section of the Torah was transmitted ‘to the entire
assembly’ since the majority of the basic precepts and laws are contained
within Parshas Kedoshim.
The Gemara (Shabbos 31a) records an interaction between Shammai the Elder
and a non-Jew. The non-Jew asked Shammai how many Torahs there were.
Shammai answered that there were two: The Written Torah and the Oral
Torah. The non-Jew said that he was willing to accept the Torah
Sh’Bichtav, but not the Torah Sh’B’Al Peh. Shammai then proceeded to
rebuke the man and sent him away. When the same non-Jew approached Hillel
with the exact same proposition, Hillel allowed him to become a Jew.
Hillel began teaching the man the Hebrew letters of Aleph Bet. The
following day when the non-Jew returned to continue his studies, Hillel
identified the letters incorrectly. The non-Jew corrected Hillel stating
what he had learned the previous day. Hillel remarked to the non-Jew that
if he relied on Hillel his teacher to teach him the proper pronunciation
and order of the letters, then he should also rely on his teacher to teach
him the Oral Torah as well.
Another non-Jew approached Shammai with a similar absurd condition to his
becoming a Jew, namely to learn all that is required while standing on one
foot. Shammai chased away this man as well. When this non-Jew came before
Hillel with the same proposition, Hillel permitted him to become a Jew,
teaching the man that what he despises he should not do toward his fellow
man. That concept comprises the entire Torah and the rest of Torah study
is only deeper explanations to reinforce this concept. Rashi explains that
‘your fellow’ includes Hashem himself. It is interesting to note that
Hillel uses the negative language ‘what you despise do not do unto your
friend, rather than stating his fundamental principle in a positive way,
such as ‘Love your fellow like yourself’. Perhaps one answer is that there
are certain circumstances where you must love yourself more than your
fellow Jew, such as when your life is in danger, the rule is that your
life comes before another’s life.
The Rebbe zt”l often explained that the Mitzvah of V’Ahavta L’Rayacha
KaMocha, to love your neighbor as you love yourself, was specifically
juxtaposed with the prohibitive Mitzvah of prohibiting revenge or holding
a grudge, Lo Tikom V’Lo Titor, teach us that one must love his fellow
Jew even if he is not ‘like yourself’. When he doesn’t dress like you or
have the same customs as you or has a different approach to his Avodas
Hashem then you.
Another approach, suggested by the Maharsha, is that a non-Jew who is
attempting to become a Jew cannot yet comprehend what it means to love
another like himself. One can only comprehend from the reverse position to
avoid doing to others what you yourself despise. Once the person makes the
full transition into Judaism can that Jewish soul understand the true
intention and understanding of the concept to ‘love your fellow Jew like
yourself’.
The Sho’el U’Mayshiv adds that the ‘love’ of non-Jews is not the same as
the ‘love’ of Jews. A Jew needs other Jews in order to fulfill Mitzvos
that are Ben Adam L’Chaveiro. For example one Jew needs two other Jews to
eat with him in order for him to say Birkat HaMazon in a Zimun, and he
needs nine other Jews to make a Minyan and recite Kadish, Kedusha, Torah
Reading, et. al. Therefore, this need of inter-dependency in order to
fulfill Avodas Hashem necessitates ‘love’ between two Jews.
The Maharsha asks that there are many Mitzvos that seemingly have no
connection ‘what you despise do not do unto your friend’, such as
Tefillin, Tzitzis and other Mitzvos between Man and Hashem. The Rebbe zt”l
would answer this with a parable. If a person were to invite a guest into
his home, and the guest would complain about the furniture or the
configuration of the house, the host would explain to the guest that the
host is the owner of the house, and arranges the home primarily to suit
his own needs. If the guests is happy he is welcome to stay, but if he is
unhappy, he is welcome to leave and find other accommodations.
So too, Hashem, as the Creator of the world, arranged the world in his
Divine Wisdom, as the entire World is his to do as he sees fit. We have a
choice. We can accept his world as a guest, with Hashem as our Host, or if
we have complaints we are ‘welcome’ to create our own world ex nihilo,
just as he did, and do whatever we wish there, but if we choose to reside
in Hashem’s world we must abide by the will of our Host. This is how we
must understand the phrase ‘what you despise do not do unto your friend’.
The message to us today in these challenging times, where we are being
instructed by health officials, our Rabbanim and our politicians to
physically distance ourselves from our fellow in order to protect our
lives and wellness, this is also a Mitzvah of ‘Love your fellow like
yourself’. May this difficult time arouse in us love for our fellow Jew,
as we realize all that we lack when we cannot be physically close with our
extended families, our friends and members of our community, as we have in
the past. It really is true that we do not truly realize the value of
something until it is taken away from us. In the merit of our unity as a
Klal in Torah, Tefillah and Mitzvos, even as we are physically separated,
may Hashem restore the Beis HaMikdash and bring the Geulah Shlayma,
speedily in our days.
Last updated 2020-05-05 13:27:50 +0200
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