Shabbat Acharei Mot and Kedoshim
Love Your Neighbour
Do not defraud your fellow. You shall not commit robbery. Do not delay paying the wages of a labourer until morning.
Do not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God. I am your God.
Do not render an unfair legal decision: do not favour the poor or show deference to the rich. Judge people fairly.
Do not deal basely with members of your people. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow. I am your God.
Do not hate people in your heart. But reprove them to avoid sin.
Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people. Love your neighbour as yourself: I am your God. (Vayikra Chapter 19 Verses 16-18)
When I read those parts of the Torah that we do this week and see all those magnificent laws about being nice to one’s neighbour, the poor and disadvantaged, even slaves and animals, helping those in need and those less fortunate than oneself, not taking advantage of other people’s frailty, not telling tales or gossiping, I am always amazed that a code written down so very long ago should contain such phenomenal ideas.
Yet here we are thousands of years later, and I doubt very much whether a majority of humanity follows these rules. They are so uplifting and yet seem too difficult for so many.
No one would say these rules are out of date or barbaric. And yet some people seem to think that much of the rest of the Torah is dated or irrelevant. It is one of the challengers of Judaism in modernity to try to reconcile the paradox that Torah contains so much we can admire and identify with and yet also what seems to be irrelevant to our times. There is a common assumption that humans can and will discover ethical rules without any help from religion or the supernatural. But as we have seen in our lifetime, societies of all kinds, when left to their own moral decision-making, often get things wrong.
We have just read chapters about leprosy of bodies and clothes and buildings, priests, sacrifices, temple purity and impurity that we feel alienated from and seem devoid of constructive messages. Yet they are all telling us that we must take care of our bodies as well as our souls. Notice how these laws keep on repeating “I am your God.” Moral laws are usually thought of as being rational. But there is a need for spiritual laws too. This is what God requires.
The Torah intended us to set an example and to behave in a way that would indeed elevate us. Sadly, in areas of ethical behaviour, family life and business life, we often tend to mirror the values and mores of the host society. There are indeed occasional exceptions. Many wonderful men and women spend their time and money visiting the sick and tending to the poor and the dying and dead. There is a tremendous amount of charity, goodness and kindness in many sections of our community and yet it co-exists with corruption of some sort or another at virtually every level. Which is why we need to be constantly reminded of our obligations.
In every religion you can find corruption alongside good deeds. In every religion there are political divides and internal tensions that can even sometimes become murderous. And yet we persevere. We hope and pray for relief to come from heaven. But we must try to create our own heaven on earth now.
Vayikra (Leviticus) Chapters 16-20
Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.
