Thread by @JYuter

1. Time for another Twitter class / shiur!

Today's topic: Love thy Neighbor

2. This will be in the same vein as my Sacred Slogans series and I'm not sure why I didn't do it in the first place. I've had trouble writing it up but hopefully, this Twitter thread can help. Usual disclaimers apply: this isn't comprehensive and everything is subject to dispute

3. Click the link below for more on the Sacred Slogans series. For now, I'll just say the goal is to take common Jewish idioms which have been used as slogans for various reasons and demonstrate that there's far more complexity behind them.
joshyuter.com/2018/09/20/spe…

4. Love thy Neighbor is an interesting one due to its ubiquity across religions and cultures to the point where it's often referred to as "The Golden Rule." However, the details may vary. For example, where Quakers add "No exceptions" the Rabbinic tradition isn't as universal

5. The Biblical source is Leviticus 19:17-18. I cite both verses because there is a nice bookend of a prohibition against hating your brother with the positive commandment to love one's neighbor.

6. As we saw in the Sacred Slogans entry on Tzelem Elokim (that man is created in God's image), there is a dispute between R. Akiva and Ben Azzai over which is the "great principle in Torah." For Ben Azzai it's Tzelem Elokim, for R. Akiva it's Love thy Neighbor

7. I'll save the detailed comparison between these two ideas for the long-form piece, but I'll just point out for now that Rashi on Lev. 19:18 cites R. Akiva's position but does not cite Ben Azzai's position for Gen 5:1

8. We find a similar sentiment to R. Akiva by Hillel who phrased this rule in the negative: "that which is distasteful to you don't do to your friend, the rest is commentary." Here too, this principle is considered to be overarching.

9. In terms of what makes this a "Great Principle," we find similar approaches among some later commentaries. For both Maimonides and the Sefer HaHinuch, Love thy Neighbor is the principle behind other commandments, focusing on the positive or negative respectively

10. This interpretation not only makes sense, but we find in the Rabbinic tradition that Love thy Neighbor is connected to other commandments. According to one Sifre, violating Love thy Neighbor is what leads to murder

11. Or in Lev. Rabbah, Love thy Neighbor is connected to the 10th commandment prohibiting coveting that which belongs to one's neighbor

12. So here we have a sense of what the "Great Principle" might mean. But as we've seen elsewhere, even "Great Principles" have exceptions (Ketuvot 27b). The most significant qualifier for Love thy Neighbor is who counts as one's "Neighbor?"

13. For example, gentiles and resident aliens (ger toshav) are both excluded from the category of "neighbor" (though converts are included)

14. Even among Jews, love is not absolute. Here we find that someone who entices others towards idolatry is also excluded from Love thy Neighbor.

15. There are even times when hatred is warranted. Here we find opinions where it is permitted, or even a *commandment* to hate sinners per Prov. 8:13. Note that it is not hating the *sin* but hating the *sinner.*

16. In Avot De-R. Natan, we see other people who are allowed to be hated, specifically sectarians, apostates, and informers.

18. But even regarding the wicked, the rejection of Love thy Neighbor is not absolute. When we look at where the Rabbinic Sages explicitly invoke Love thy Neighbor (I'm not doing all the examples here) we find that it does apply even to someone who is guilty of a capital offense

19. The trouble is there's a tension between an obligation to love and the existence of evil. As we find in Ecc. Rabba, whoever is kind to the cruel will eventually be cruel to the kind (in the right measure).

20. This position is affirmed by Maimonides in his Guide to the Perplexed:

21. On the other hand, consider that even when it comes to hating a sinner, Maimonides reminds us that God doesn't desire the death the wicked but their repentance. Taking actions to help along those lines may be better in the long run.

22. But then again this too has limits, as per Maimonides' summary of B. Avoda Zara 26b in which one is exempt from returning lost objects to certain sinners, who presumably lost their status of being called "brother"

23. So where does that leave us? Clearly, there are exceptions to Love thy Neighbor in the Rabbinic tradition. But unless Love is 100% universal, we're effectively left saying, "love thy neighbor - unless they don't deserve it."

24. This is more honest, and in reality how almost everyone works. Everyone is kind and compassionate, but only to those deemed worthy. From this perspective, Love thy Neighbor says nothing new.

25. But I think two more verses are relevant here. First is from Ecc. 3:8 that there is indeed both a time to love and a time to hate. Depending on the situation either can be necessary.

26. But Prov. 10:12 teaches that sometimes the emotion precedes the reasons. We sometimes hate or love people first, and only *afterward* to do find rationalizations and justifications. This too is a risk which must be considered.

27. Because it's so easy to be manipulated by emotions and so easy to get caught up in hatred we think is righteous, it is imperative to only employ this mindfully (if such a thing were possible).

28. Furthermore, as we saw with the condemned person, even those who are worthy of execution retain *some* element of being "loved." Meaning, even when some sort of punishment is necessary, the obligation to love doesn't go away entirely.

29. At any rate, this thread did help me clear up some of the ideas in my head. There is obviously much more to say on this subject, though I have no intention of offering any definitive conclusions.

30. As I said at the beginning, the goal here is to teach the complexities behind the slogans people glibly cite in the name of religion. I hope I've done so here and that you've found it interesting.

Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day
\fin

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31. One addendum I should have mentioned. An exclusion from Love thy Neighbor is not axiomatically a license to treat people terribly, it just means one doesn't violate this specific Biblical mandate.