DEUT308 We should go beyond the letter of the law in our dealings with others. The Ramban cites the words of our Sages who explained that this verse exhorts us to go beyond the dictates of the law in our dealings with our fellow man. The Ramban adds that this is a very great principle, since it is impossible for the Torah to actually list every last detail as to how a person should behave with his neighbors and friends. An example of this is when a plot of land is for sale. The owner of a plot of land adjacent to the plot that is for sale should be given the first right to buy it. Even if someone else is interested in acquiring that land, the seller should give his neighbor the option to buy it first. Since someone who owns land bordering on the plot that is for sale will gain more from that plot then others, other interested buyers should purchase elsewhere. (See Rashi, Bava Metzia 108a). The Talmud (Bava Metzia 30b) states that Jerusalem was destroyed because its inhabitants failed to go beyond the letter of the law. Rabbi Zalman of Volozhin explained that this alone was not the cause of the destruction, for they had other transgressions as well. But had they gone beyond the letter of the law in dealing with others, God would have gone beyond the letter of the law in dealing with them. Consequently, Jerusalem would have been saved. (Toldos Odom). Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian used to cite this passage during the month of Ellul (the month preceding Rosh Hashanah). He added that before Rosh Hashanah everyone tries to find extra merits. From here we see that the most effective merit is to go beyond the letter of the law in our dealings with others. (Lev Eliyahu, vol. 2, p. 192). Rabbi Yosef Y. Hurwitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Nevardok, used to say, "Someone who is lax in fulfilling matters that are beyond the obligation of the letter of the law will eventually be lax in fulfilling laws that are explicitly expressed and self-evident." (Tnuas Hamussar, vol. 4, p. 297)