LEV572 Within the heart of man the issue is not merely "to love or not to love" but also "to love or to hate," for the repertoire of human feelings includes the very fierce and destructive negative emotion of hatred. Like its opposite, "love," the feeling of hatred has its roots in biology and represents a man's natural response to certain negative aspects of his situation which evoke in him fear or resentment or revulsion. Like the other emotions, hatred is clearly not all of one piece and is experienced as an entire range of feelings of varying intensities and nuances, from a mild dislike to a cold abhorrence to a raging, passionate detestation. But if hatred, like the other emotions, arises naturally in man, and God created man, then the emotion as such must be accepted as part of the grand design and as playing a needed and legitimate role within the life of man. The morality of Judaism does not condemn the emotion of hatred per se as evil but questions the uses to which it is put or who or what becomes the object of hate. Does the prompting of Jewish morality to love one's fellow man, as contained in the overlapping commands to "Love thy fellow man," and "Love the stranger," and "Love humanity," effectively preclude the legitimation of any sort of hatred for any man? It is interesting to note that Christianity imputes to the "Old Dispensation" the actual teaching of hatred of one's enemies: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,'… But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matthew 5:43. The first point that must be made is that the original command to love one's fellow occurs in a set of sentences to which we are commanded not to hate [this and following verse]. While each of these commands is usually considered a separate injunction, they can be read in sequence as advice on how to approach one's enemy, personal or religious. A person has caused you harm or has offended you and the resentment has built up into hatred. You watch your neighbor mindlessly violate the sancta of Judaism and your indignation turns to hatred. The teaching of the Torah is: Do not permit the hatred to fester in your heart. Hate is toxic and if stored within tends to corrode the entire personality. Work through your hatred by "rebuking your neighbor." Tokhachah (reproof) is a process of confrontation and communication. Confront your neighbor and tell him how you have been hurt. Ask him why he is doing to you what appears to be wrong. Try to get him to see how wrong it is. Perhaps you can get him to change. In any event, "Do not bear sin upon him"; i.e., separate the sin, the evil deed, from the person (See Commentary of Abarbanel). As a result of your own verbalization, in which you clarify the true source of the wrong, the hatred can now be vented upon the evil deed rather than the person or can be confined to the evil within the person. ... Having treated the emotion of hatred, the Torah goes on to say that certainly, in no way, should these feelings be permitted to manifest themselves in overt acts of vengeance. On the contrary, you must treat the person you once hated the way you treat yourself--with forgiveness, with indulgence, and with actions denoting benevolence and love.
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