The commandment to love your neighbor as yourself has been misunderstood by many, including many contemporary Jewish sources. This topic came up during one of my conversations with a non-Jew, of a Xian faith, who was of the opinion that Jews are obligated to love everyone, and I mean everyone, including our enemies, just like his deity dictated.
If you google "love your neighbor", you will find many Xian sources and some contemporary Jewish sources preaching that Jews should love everyone. But do you want to know the truth? If you want to know the truth, you should go no further than to find the source of "You shall love your neighbor like yourself" in the Torah.
The Torah in Vayikra 19:18 states:
לֹא-תִקֹּם וְלֹא-תִטֹּר אֶת-בְּנֵי עַמֶּךָ וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ אֲנִי יקוק
"You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your fellow [Jew] as yourself, I am Ad-noy." - Metsudah Linear Chumash translation
Your people, here, is referring to the Jewish people. Your fellow, here, is referring to your fellow Jew, and no other. Not being satisfied with this straightforward unadulterated 'pshat' (simple meaning) of the text, the Xian then brought another source to attempt to prove that Jews are obligated to love everyone. So he brought out this verse, this time, straight from the Torah.
In Devarim 10:19, the verse states:
וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת-הַגֵּר כִּי-גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
"You are to love the convert, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt." - Metsudah Linear Chumash Translation
Unfortunately, this Xian has interpreted the verse to be "love the stranger", and in his mind, stranger, means any non-Jew. Well, this is a serious mistake. The correct translation is "love the convert", and convert here means convert to Judaism.
To give further support to the commandment of loving your (Jewish) neighbor as yourself, this is what the prayerbook, The Complete Metsudah Siddur, says as a reminder to Jews at the beginning of the Shacharis (morning) prayer session.
הֲרֵינִי מְקַבֵּל עַל עַצְמִי מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָI hereby accept upon myself the positive commandment to love my fellow Jew.
The Chofetz Chaim compiled for himself and Jewry the set of 613 commandments that Jews are incumbent upon. This is what he has to say about the commandment of "loving your neighbor as yourself".
מִצְוַת-עֲשֵׂה לֶאֱהֹב כָּל אֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל כְּגוּפוֹIt is a positive commandment to bear affection for everyone in Jewry as for oneself.
Note the stress on the word, "in Jewry", and not "in the world", or "in the nations". The Chofetz Chaim goes on to explain this mitzvah as follows.
as Scripture says, and you shall love your fellow as yourself (Vayikra 19:18). It is therefore necessary to have as much protective concern for another person's physical self, his items of monetary value and his esteem, as for one's own. If someone derives honor from another's disgrace, he has no share in the world-to-come. And included in this positive commandment is [the religious duty] of making peace between a man and his friend. It is effect everywhere, at every time, for both man and woman.
An excellent shiur by Rabbi Eli Mansour about this mitzvah can be found here. Click picture.
I end this post with a very uplifting song by Medad Tasa, on the mitzvah of loving one's fellow Jews as oneself.
I end this post with a very uplifting song by Medad Tasa, on the mitzvah of loving one's fellow Jews as oneself.
