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LEVITICUS | 19:18 love — LEV665 In this vein spoke also Ben Azzai: "The To...

LEV665 In this vein spoke also Ben Azzai: "The Torah, by beginning with 'This is the book of the generations of Adam' (Gen v. I), makes it clear that the command' 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself [this verse], refers to all people who must be included as 'thy neighbor'. (Gen R. xxiv (end)). "All righteous people, not only Jews," says another sage, "shall enter the eternal Kingdom." The Psalmist (cxviii. 20) did not specify the Jew, when he said: "This is the Gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it." All citizens, irrespective of belief, are entitled to a share in the amenities of a township on which the maintenance of concord depends. All the poor of the town must be supported; all their dead given a decent burial; all their mourners comforted; and all their sick visited (Gittin 64a). No Jew can be called righteous who is not good unto all (Kiddushin 40a). So important is the respect we must pay to all our fellow-pilgrims on earth that most of the Biblical prohibitions may be transgressed on its account (Kidd. 40a; Ber. 19b; Abot iv. 3; Bezah 32b).

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Source KeyLEHRMAN
Verse19:18
Keyword(s)love
Source Page(s)58
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