Love Your Neighbor

Who said it first? Most people would say "Jesus" without hesitation. But actually, Jesus being the good Jew that he was, was simply quoting from Leviticus, a book in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible.

This came up last night in an adult Hebrew class I was attending at Temple Micah. We were studying the Ten Commandments. Our rabbi Toby noted that the commandment was to "honor" your father and mother, not to "love" them. She added that we are never commanded to love. I said, "But what about ‘love your neighbor as yourself’?" Another class member said that we are told "not to hate", which is very different that being told to love.

I remembered it differently and with the help of Google found the verse in Leviticus 19:18:

Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.

This commandment is found in multiple Gospels and in James in the New Testament. After all, it is a fairly universal idea, but one that comes from that initial reference in Leviticus.

As for the "Don’t hate your neighbor", that’s there too in the preceding verse Leviticus 19:17:

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.

I’m still pondering why it’s more important to honor our parents than love them. Is that because God knew there would be many times where a difference of opinion would make love difficult, but honor could still work? I wonder what my children would say about this?

But I’m most struck with how these 5 words are as applicable today as they were in 1000 BCE, or whenever Leviticus was initially written down. If only the world would just embrace this commandment...