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LEVITICUS — 19:18 love

LEV667 It is forbidden to be obdurate and not allowing self to be appeased. On the contrary, one should be easily pacified and difficult to anger. Moreover, when asked by an offender for forgiveness, when should forgive with a sincere mind and a willing spirit. Even if one had been much vexed and grievously wrong, he is not to avenge nor bear a grudge (this verse).

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LEVITICUS — 19:18 love

LEV644 … it is not only the poor whom God commands us to help. In what is one of the most famous verses of the Torah, the one that Rabbi Akiva calls the fundamental principle of the Torah [Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12], God commands us to “love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai” (Leviticus 19:18). The Rabbis of the Midrash and Talmud, interpreting this verse, determined that it requires us not really to love everyone, which they knew was impossible, but to have concern for others and, more important, to act out of that sense of commitment and loyalty to others. So, for example, they used this verse to explain a man's duty to marry a woman who is fitting for him [T. Sotah 5:6; B. Kiddushin 41a], to forbid a man from having sexual intercourse with his wife during the day lest he sees something loathsome in her [B. Niddah 17a], to permit a child to draw blood from his or her parents in an effort to heal him or her [B. Sanhedrin 84b] despite the Torah’s prohibition of injuring one’s parents (Exodus 21:15), and to require that a person who is to be executed be killed in the least offensive way possible [T. Sanhedrin 9:3; B. Pesachim 75a; J. Sotah 1:5 (6a); J. Sanhedrin 6:4 (28a). Maimonides (1135-1204) uses this verse as the basis for yet other laws: that one must tell the praises of others, avoid self-aggrandizement through defaming others, and concern oneself with other people's money as one would take care of one's own [M.T. Laws of Ethics (Hilkhot De’ot) 6:3]. Furthermore, Maimonides maintains that loving one's neighbor as oneself is one of the grounds for the demand that we rescue captives [M.T. Laws of Gifts to the Poor 8:10]. He asserts that although the commands to visit the sick, bury the dead, comfort mourners, and help a bride and groom celebrate their wedding are of rabbinic rather than biblical status, they are rooted in this biblical command [M.T. Laws of Mourning 14:1].

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LEVITICUS — 19:18 love

LEV654 Commitment to family and friends. If one who trusts in God has a wife and relatives, friends and enemies, he should rely on God to save him from [being overburdened by] them, and endeavor to meet his duties toward them, to fulfill their wishes, and to be wholehearted with them. He should avoid causing them any harm, and promote their interests. He should be their steadfast supporter in all their concerns, and advise them of what is advantageous to them in religious and secular matters. [He should do all this] to serve God, as it is written: “Love your neighbor like yourself” Vayikra 19:18); “Do not hate your brother in your heart” (ibid. 19:17). Not because he hopes to be repaid by them, not to make them indebted to him, not because he loves to be honored and praised by them, not to have authority over them, but to fulfill the commandment of the Creator, and to keep His covenant and keep His ordinances in their regard. For if his motive in fulfilling their wishes is one of those [ulterior motives] mentioned above, he will not obtain what he wants from them in this world, he will labor in vain, and will lose his reward in the World-to-Come. If, however, he acts solely out of service to God, God will help them [the beneficiaries] to repay him in this world, will put his praises into their mouths, and will increase his stature in their eyes; And he will attain great reward in the World-to-Come. As God said to Shelomo: “I give you also what you did not ask for--both riches and honor” (Melachim I, 3:13).

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LEVITICUS — 19:18 love

LEV662 In how many ways should a person hold himself to an accounting before God? I say that there are a multitude of ways in which to make such an accounting. Of these, I will point out thirty. They can clarify to a person what he owes God, if he will bring them to mind and undertake to reflect on them and remember them always. Contemplating the responsibilities and benefits of friendship and community. … 22. One should make an accounting with himself of his involvement with other people in what pertains to the general welfare—e.g., plowing and reaping, buying and selling, and other ways in which people are mutually helpful in creating a healthy society--[and consider] that he should desire for them what he would desire for himself in these matters, loathe for them [to suffer] what he would loathe for himself, empathize with them, and do all that he can do to shield them from what might harm them, as it is written: “Love your neighbor like yourself” (Vayikra 19:18). An analogy to this is the following. Think of a group of people who set out for a distant land on a difficult road. They will have to camp at many stations [along the way], and they have with them many beasts loaded with heavy burdens. The people are few in number; and each has in his charge many beasts which he must load and unload frequently. If they help each other in the loading and unloading, and the desire of each of them is to further their welfare and ease the burden of all of them, and they share equally in rendering help and assistance, then they will be in excellent shape. But if they are divisive and do not cooperate, and each one tries to further his own selfish interests, most of them will grow weary [and falter]. For this reason, my brother, the world becomes wearisome to its inhabitants, and their toil and trouble are increased--because everyone concerns himself only with his own lot and [seeks] more than his allotted portion. And because they demand of the world more than is their due and seek in it what is not theirs, the world denies them their due and does not provide them with their share. As a result, they are not satisfied with the world, and there is not one among them who does not complain and whine about it. Because they seek luxuries, the world denies them basic necessities, and grants these only after much trouble and exertion. If they would be content with what suffices for their basic needs, if they would all strive for the common good and share the same conditions, they would overcome [all obstacles] in this world and attain even more than they desire. Yet, not only do they not help each other in their worldly interests but they hinder one another. Each one obstructs his friend and cripples his effort, so that not one of them attains what he seeks or fulfills his desire. Therefore, my brother, you should endeavor to acquire faithful colleagues and true friends who will help you in your religious and secular pursuits, as you are wholehearted and true toward them. They should be as dear to you as your own soul, when you find among them those who are worthy of this sentiment. Do not, however, confide your secrets to anyone but the choicest of your choice friends, as Ben Sira said: “Many will wish you well, but confide your secret to only one in a thousand.” (Ben Sira 6:6), and as the Wise One said: “Oil and incense gladden the heart, so confiding in one's friend for earnest counsel” (Mishlei 27:9).

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LEVITICUS — 19:18 love

LEV673 Palliation of Pain. Elimination of pain is assuredly a legitimate and laudable goal. According to some authorities, mitigation of pain is encompassed within the general obligation to heal (sources omitted). Palliative treatment is certainly mandated by virtue of the commandment "and you shall love your neighbor as yourself" [this verse]. When the dual goals of avoidance of pain and preservation of life come into conflict with one another, however, Judaism recognizes the paramount value and sanctity of life and, accordingly, assigns priority to preservation of life. Thus, a number of authorities have expressly stated that non-treatment or withdrawal of treatment in order for the patient to be released from pain by death constitutes euthanasia and is not countenanced by Judaism (footnotes omitted). This remains the case even if the patient pleads to be permitted to die. As stated by one prominent authority, "even if the patient himself cries out, 'Let me be and do not give me any aid, because for me death is preferable,' everything possible must be done on behalf of the patient." (Tzitz Eli'ezer, IX, no. 47, sec.5) Nevertheless, every prudent effort should be made to alleviate the patient's suffering. This includes aggressive treatment of pain even to a degree which at present is not common in medical practice. Physicians are reluctant to use morphine in high dosages because of the danger of depression of the cerebral center responsible for respiration. The effect of morphine administered in high doses is that the patient cannot control the muscles necessary for breathing. There is, however, no halakhic objection to providing such medication in order to control pain in the case of terminal patients even though palliation of pain may ultimately entail maintaining such a patient on a respirator. Similarly, there is no halakhic objection to the use of heroin in the control of pain in terminal patients. The danger of addiction under such circumstances is, of course, hardly a significant consideration. At present, the use of heroin is illegal even for medical purposes.

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