Kedoshim

How can we move from hatred to love?

Reflection by Carrie Watkins, OHL Community Manager

"This week’s parsha offers us one of the most well known lines in all of Torah, a line we chant together on retreat. `וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ`, `v’ahavta l'reacha kamocha`, love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).  

One of the most striking elements of this famous verse may be its connection to the lines that directly precede it. `Do not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Rebuke your kin but incur no guilt because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countryman. Love your fellow as yourself`(19:17-18).

What do each of these commandments mean? Are they a random list, or does their proximity and order have something to teach us? 

Ramban, the beloved 13th Century commentator, explains that `it is the way of haters to cover up their hatred in their hearts,` that hatred in your heart is an attempt to push down and not express that hatred. He then reads the rest of the verses descriptively, with each statement being not a separate directive but a logical flow from one to the other. 

Read this way, the translation might look something like this: Do not push down your hatred, or it will infect your heart. Instead, rebuke your neighbor if he is acting unjustly. By actively speaking out and entering into relationship with another, you will no longer be tempted by revenge or cling to grudges. At the end of this process, you may just find that there is nothing left to do but love your neighbor as yourself. 

May our mindfulness practice help us, and all beings, move from pushing down hatred to proclaiming love.”

Shabbat Shalom from Or HaLev