LEV695 The Sefer Hachinuch (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah #243) says that the mitzvah to love one's fellow neighbor [this verse] is a charge to all Jews to create peace among themselves.

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LEV696 The Sefer Hachinuch (Sefer Hachinuch, Mitzvah #538) gives a practical reason for this mitzvah [i.e., the obligation to return lost objects]. Society can exist more cohesively when lost objects are returned. People and society will be more productive economically if lost objects do not remain lost, but are returned to their owners. The Abarbanel (commentary on Deut. 22:1-3) says that the act of returning an object will cause people to feel compassion and consideration for fellow human beings. People will feel better about one another in general, and this feeling will spread to all aspects of man's relationship to man. The Alshich (commentary on Deut. 22:1-3) says that this mitzvah is the actual fulfillment of the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" [this verse]. God commands us to treat our fellow human beings as we would treat ourselves, and the returning of lost objects converts this feeling into action.

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LEV657 Finally, the key to the reason that the urge for revenge and the urge to retain a grudge should be overcome and forgotten comes from the verse itself that prohibits this sin. It is not an accident that the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself is placed at the end of the verse prohibiting revenge [this verse]. Since no one would want anyone else to commit revenge against him or her for something he or she did, so too, no one should not (sic) take revenge against any individual who feels wronged and who feels as though he or she deserves the right to take that revenge. Because this is so difficult to do, it is the ultimate test of the verse to love one's neighbor as oneself. Any Jew who can bury this urge and not commit revenge can be said to truly love someone else as much as he loves himself.

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LEV647 "Wherefore I perceived that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works." -- Ecclesiastes 3:22. … Religions which stress the hereafter, in the belief that true life begins beyond the grave, instinctively downgrade all the earthly joys of man's existence. They may grudgingly concede the need for satisfying some bodily cravings in the interest of survival and the perpetuation of the species. Such concessions notwithstanding, the postulate that pleasure is intrinsically evil has been repeatedly reaffirmed. Indeed, they prefer celibacy because it eliminates the pleasure of sexual intercourse. Some aesthetics are said to have swallowed their food whole to avoid enjoying the pleasure of eating. Judaism is a this–worldly faith, primarily concerned with the quality of life on earth. It does not recommend the suppression of natural human urges and regards the enjoyment of permissible pleasures as salutatory and wholesome. It decries asceticism but at the same time condemns inordinate pursuit of self-gratification. Most Judaic rituals and precepts have a socioreligious base. The incentive of heavenly reward in the hereafter was muted in the Bible. It was stressed in postbiblical literature as a disciplinary tool for keeping man's conduct within the bounds of morality. Extraordinary acts of piety are not required to assure man of a niche in heaven. Self-affliction is deemed an offense against religion, ethics, and society. Judaism considers life on earth the most prized God-given gift. The biblical command to preserve one's life takes precedence over nearly all other religious precepts. The same holds true for the preservation of other people's lives. Rabbi Akiva boldly pointed to the command "And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" [this verse] as a major biblical principle (Jer. Nedarim 9:4). Had he stressed the hereafter he undoubtedly would have chosen the parallel commandment, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God" (Deuteronomy 6:5), as the major biblical principle.

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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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