LEV650 [This verse]. Man's moral obligations to his fellowman derive from religious perceptions of human rights and from practical considerations of the needs of society. The Judaic doctrine of the equality of all men, inherent in the biblical account of Creation, grants every individual equal rights and privileges. Man's freedom of action is consequently circumscribed by the rights of other people. One may do or say whatever he desires so long as he does not infringe upon the prerogatives and sensitivities of his neighbors. These bounds are expressed in Hillel's (1st cent.) paraphrase of the Golden Rule: "What is hateful unto thee, do not do unto others" (Shabbat 31). (Continued at [[GEN46]] Genesis 1:26 image BLOCH 254-5)

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LEV678 See [[EXOD140]] Exodus 11:2 friend BLOCH 140

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LEV690 The Golden Rule is based on the Pentateuchal pronouncement: "Love thy fellowman as thyself" [this verse]. Rabbi Akiva (2nd cent.) cautioned against regarding this verse has a mere rhetorical flourish. According to him, it reflects "a fundamental principle of the Torah" (Jer. Nedarim 9:4). All biblical social laws, affirmative and negative, stem from a basic obligation to love one's fellowman.

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LEV700 The Two Facets of Ethics. All virtues have their counterparts. The opposite of love, humility, and generosity are hate, arrogance and miserliness. These represent the two extremes of human behavior. It is the function of moral instruction to promote the former and suppress the latter. The Psalmist summed it up in a single sentence: "Abstain from evil and do good." (Psalms 34:15). The biblical laws are divided into positive and negative injunctions. There are 248 positive injunctions and 365 negative injunctions. This division, though not in the same proportions, also appears in the Decalogue. The primary purpose of the negative injunctions is to protect society from the harmful acts of misguided individuals. Such behavior usually results from a normal response to bodily instincts. Cheating satisfies one's acquisitiveness. Overbearing conduct builds up one's ego. It is sad to reflect that many people are human but not necessarily humane. The aim of the positive injunctions is to ennoble man's character and to reflect its godliness. Over and above the protection of society, they seek to enhance the quality of life and distinctiveness of man. "Thou shall not kill" guarantees human security. "Honor thy father and thy mother" is the basis of human progress. The Psalmist wisely gives precedence to "abstain from evil." This is the initial step on the road toward excellence. Parental instructions to a young child are studded with more don'ts than do's. It is the latter, however, that have the potential for making man "a little lower than God." One cannot "do good" unless he first learns to "abstain from evil." Yet the individual who refrains from evil without supplementing it with affirmative social action is not truly an ethical person. He may be a harmless member of society, but he contributes little to the ethical level of the community. Biblical moral instructions address themselves to both extremes of human behavior. Thus man is admonished to "Love thy neighbor as thyself" [this verse]. This commandment is preceded by the injunction "Thou shall not hate thy brother in thy heart" (Leviticus 19:17). There is a need for addressing both of these human emotions. Love cannot be legislated nor conjured up with a magic wand. There are people who are incapable of love. The most they can do is to stop their predilection for hate. The same is true of many other moral precepts.

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LEV692 The maxim "Love thy neighbor as thyself" [this verse] is a moral goal which can be applied on a universal scale only when international peace prevails. The biblical exemptions from military service (Deuteronomy 28:5-8) are so comprehensive that full compliance with these regulations would render the raising of a large army a practical impossibility. The purpose of these exemptions was to limit the army to a small number of men whose confidence in combat would depend upon the benevolence of God rather than their physical might. Such men would be more likely to avoid cruelties which are offensive to God.  Furthermore, small armies do not readily rush into aggressive wars. (Continued at [[DEUT849]] Deuteronomy 16:20 justice BLOCH 68)

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LEV660 If we have derekh eretz, we're polite and affable and don't go around bumping into others, either physically or emotionally. But that's not so easy. We regularly can see the truth in the Yiddish maxim: "It's harder to stay on good terms with people then with God." Too often we witness a hurtful behavior Barukh of Medzibezh has in mind when he says that people are very careful not to swallow an insect, but not at all careful about devouring a person (Elkins, Melodies from My Father's House). Common courtesy, the everyday concern that flows from "Love your neighbor as yourself" [this verse], too often gets lost as we engage in conduct that Gluckel of Hameln describes in her memoirs in 1690: "Nothing pleases a person more than ruining his neighbor" (The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln). Hillel counsels a tamer but more ethical realism, recommending: "Anything you hate having done to you, don't do to your neighbor" (Shabbat 31a). Few things are more commonly irksome today than trying to negotiate city streets when people double- or triple-park, so we try not to be guilty of it ourselves. And walking from a distant parking place, we can't stand those who are clearly physically fit yet insist on zooming into a parking place plainly reserved for the handicapped.

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LEV666 It is a positive commandment to bear affection for everyone in Jewry as for oneself as Scripture says, and you shall love your fellow as yourself [this verse]. It is therefore necessary to have as much protective concern for another person's physical self, his items of monetary value and his esteem, as for one's own. If someone derives honor from another's disgrace, he has no share in the world-to-come. Included in this positive commandment is [the religious duty of] making peace between a man and his friend.

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LEV670 Love your fellow Jew. Feel love and concern for your fellow Jew. Show mercy on him. Be concerned about him and his belongings as much as you are concerned about yourself and your belongings. … as a person treats his neighbor, so, too, his neighbor will treat him. Mutual good will leads to peaceful co-existence.

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LEV689 The Essenes, according to Philo, taught a threefold doctrine: love of God, love of virtue and the love of mankind. Philo Judaeus, ed. Yonge, III, On the Virtuous Being also Free, ch. 12. See Secrets of Enoch, 50:3-4. A Hasidic work of the first pre-Christian century contains the monition: "Love the Lord through all thy life, and one another with a true heart." The entire work is filled with the spirit. Love of God and the neighbor, compassion for the poor and the weak and even for the beasts are urged as the duty of man. Man must be compassionate, "because even as men doeth to his neighbor, even so also will the Lord do unto him." Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Dan. 5:3; Issachar 5:1; also 7:6; Test. Zeb. 5:1-3; also 7:2, 8:1; Test Benj. 3:3; 10:3. Jesus, therefore, followed well-established Jewish teaching when he combined the commands to love God and to love one's neighbor. Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27. In Luke the combination is made by a Pharisee. So, too, R. Akiba regarded the command "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" [this verse] as the leading principle of the Torah. Sifra to Lev. 19:18; Rashi, ad loc. (Numerous additional citations omitted-AJL). This view is probably related to his emphasis on man as created in the Divine image. By loving one's fellow man, love is shown to his Creator.

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LEV691 The Golden Rule. Hillel, while teaching the duty of man to "love his fellow creatures and to bring them near unto the Torah," Avot 1:12 also summarized the intent of the entire Torah in the words: "What is hateful into thee, do not to thy fellow man." Shabbat 31a. (Lengthy note omitted-AJL). Jewish and Christian scholars have sought to find in Hillel's negative formulation of the golden rule the tendency of Judaism toward justice in contradistinction to its positive statement by Jesus (Matthew 7:12 and in briefer form in Luke 6:31), typical of the Christian emphasis on love. The contrast drawn between Jewish and Christian ethics on the basis of the different formulations of the golden rule ignores the fact that both versions derive from the command of (this verse), "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." W.A. Spooner, art., "Golden Rule, " H.E.R.E. VI;310-312. G.B. King, the Golden Rule, Journ. Rel. VIII, 168-79. Furthermore, both forms appear indiscriminately in the literature of the Synagogue and the Church.

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