LEV633 R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon b. Yochai: any Torah scholar who does not take revenge and does not bear a grudge, as a serpent, is no Torah scholar. And though it is written: "Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge," this is in respect to monetary matters (Yoma 23a)

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LEV632 It was taught: Which is revenge and which is bearing a grudge? If one said: Lend me your scythe, and he was refused; and the next day the other said to him: Lend me your spade -- if he replied: I will not lend it to you, just as you did not lend to me--this is revenge; and if he replied: Here it is -- I am not like you, who do not lend -- this is bearing a grudge (Yoma 23a)

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LEV630 If someone revealed your sin, do not say: "Just as he revealed my sin, I, too, will reveal his sin," for it is written [this verse]: "Do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge." And do not vaunt yourself, saying: "Although he revealed my sin, I will not reveal his," for in doing so you already reveal half. This is a great principle in the fear of Heaven. If this sinner, however, is not God-fearing, such as one who cast from himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and does not keep himself from one transgression which all the people of this town know to be a transgression, then it is a mitzvah to speak disparagingly of him and to reveal his sins and to demean transgressors in the eyes of men so that they hear and despise him and keep themselves far from transgression, as it is written (Mishlei 29:27): "The abomination of the righteous is a man of wrong," and (ibid. 8:13): "The fear of Hashem is to hate evil."

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LEV625 [The] trait of cruelty in a man's soul incites him to take revenge on his enemies, as it is written (Mishlei 6:34): "And he will not be merciful in the day of revenge"--that is, where there is revenge, there is not mercy but cruelty, and the Torah has instructed [this verse]: "Do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge." We have been exhorted not even to bear a grudge against our neighbor in our hearts, how much more so not to actively strike him. Even if he falls without our causing him to do so, we are forbidding to rejoice, as it is written (Mishlei 24:17): "When your foe falls, do not rejoice; and when he stumbles, let not your heart be glad." He who takes revenge and bears grudges does not overlook injury and does not forgive his friends who offend him, and this bears in its trail contention and hatred--and you already know how good and pleasant is the trait of peace.

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LEV628 And one must take great care not to remember the evil that his friend has done against him. About this it is written [this verse]: "And do not bear a grudge," but one should cause all hatred to be forgotten from his heart. If he, however, has done evil to his friend, he should remember it, in order to amend immediately what he has done to him. And if he has heard idle talk, he should not remember it. He should be as a sieve, that retains the fine meal and emits the flour, but not as a strainer, that retains the lees and emits the wine.

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LEV639 It is a negative commandment to harbor no hatred in our heart toward our fellow-man as Scripture says, nor shall you bear any grudge [this verse]. Bearing a grudge means that one harbors hate in his heart: for instance, if he tells him, "Here I am lending it to you; I am not paying you back as you acted toward me, refusing to lend me something." This is bearing a grudge, where he nurses hate in his heart. Instead, he has to lend it to him wholeheartedly; there should be no ill will whatever in his heart, but he should rather erase the matter from his heart, and not retain it or remember it at all. These two qualities are extremely bad. For all the matters and concerns of this world are vapid nonsense and triviality, and it is not worth taking revenge or bearing a grudge about them.

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LEV640 If we look again carefully at that central verse commanding the Jew to treat all people like he would want to be treated, we see that the verse ends with the words "I am God" [this verse]. Why end the most man-to-man verse in the Torah with "I am God"? God is teaching us that every action between men is also an action between man and God. Why and how is this so? Just as man shows honor to an artist by admiring his painting or respecting his work, by treating a human being with honor, Jews also showed respect to the "Artist," the Creator of that human being-God. Thus, every act towards man also brings with it respect for God, the Artist, and transforms it into a man-to-God act as well. One contemporary thinker compared how Jews treat each other to the treatment between siblings, because God is called the Father of the Jewish people (and of all people, for that matter) and Jews are His children (Malachi 2:10). What would any parent prefer experiencing: a child who shows love and devotion to the parent exclusively, or two siblings who show love and devotion to each other? Just as any normal parent would certainly prefer the latter, God also prefers for Jews to demonstrate love for one another, even more than love for Him. This idea seems to be echoed by King Solomon when he tells us that God prefers justice and Tzedaka (charity) between men over man's sacrifices to God, and the Rabbis reiterate this idea as well in the Talmud (Proverbs 21:3, Sukkah 49b). Apparently, how Jews behave towards each other will help them endure until the Messiah arrives. One prophet predicts (Zephaniah 3:13) that the only Jews who will survive the onslaught of Jewish history and endure the test of assimilation and anti-Semitism will be those Jews who do not hurt their fellow Jews, who do not speak lies and deceive one another, and who feed those that are hungry.

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LEV641 See [[LEV301]] Leviticus 19:3 "I" ISSACS 7-8

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LEV642 For the nontheist, an autonomous basis for morality must be affirmed for moral behavior to be justified. For the theist, the existence of God serves as the ultimate source of a justification for moral behavior. For example, a rabbinic text interprets the well-known verse from Leviticus (19:18): "You should love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord"-- to mean: "You should love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord, because I [God] have created him." Berakhot 59b.

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LEV643 Just as the physical can serve as an entrée to the spiritual, so can the spiritual be an invitation to the physical. Human love can serve as a path to love us God, but to be complete, love of God must be a portal to love of one's fellow. In this view, communion with God is the foundation for ethical behavior. Figuratively, the verse, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord" (this verse) was taken to refer the to the love of God, i.e., one's "neighbor" is God. (See Rashi to Shabbat 31a; also see Exodus Rabbah 27:1). Literally, the verse was taken to refer to one's fellow human being. In other words, love of God is the premise upon which ethics rest. Through love of the Creator, one comes to a love of His creatures. As a rabbinic text states, commenting on this verse, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself because I am the Lord, because I have created him." Avot d'Rabbi Natan, Solomon Schechter, "A" chap. 16 end, p. 32b.

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