Temple Micah is 2.3 miles from my home.  Though the drive rarely takes more than 10 minutes, it can seem much longer if I am behind a car plodding along at 25 mph or a timid motorist in the leftturn lane. At this point, it is never my fault that I lingered over breakfast or answered a phone call as I had one foot out the door, rather it is the other
driver who insists on caution that has me pushing the limits of timeliness.  Though I do not frequently vocalize them, my sentiments toward these people are often less than generous.

And its not just drivers that raise my ire. It’s also pedestrians, people who don’t have their credit card out at the pump and shoppers who simply can’t decide what candy bar they want from the display under the counter at CVS.  Though I can read the same book to a toddler over and over again and have almost endless patience when teaching Torah, I find it difficult to muster similar tolerance for strangers.

The Torah tells us: You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.  Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and hold no grudge against the children of your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Adonai your God (Leviticus 19:17-18).

This month our derech eretz curriculum will explore the idea of loving one’s neighbor. I’m glad I’ll be preparing these lessons – my drive to work reminds me at least three times a week that I could use the refresher.

In looking at the Hebrew of the above verses more closely, it strikes me that I may already be doing all that the Torah demands of me. The word translated in the context of Leviticus 19 as “neighbor” is the Hebrew word reiecha.  A more accurate translation would be “close associate” or “companion.”  The root of this word is often used to refer to a spouse or partner. Other words used in these verses are “brother” and “children of your people.” If all it takes to “love your neighbor” is to treat those closest to us with kindness, well I may not have a perfect record, but I am doing pretty well. My guess is that your stats look like mine.

We could pat ourselves on the back for a mitzvah (commandment) well done and call it a day, but we would be doing so prematurely. The Torah demands more of us than simple kindness to those closest to us. How do we know this? Over and over again the bible stresses that we are to treat the “stranger among us” as one of our own. We are to make sure that the stranger is fed and clothed and afforded all of the benefits we would give to our families and our closest associates. We are to treat a stranger as we would one of our own, as we would want to be treated.

Proper treatment of other human beings is so important that our great sage Hillel, when asked to boil down Jewish teaching to its essence, suggested: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the whole Torah. All the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.”

It is not just those closest to us that we must treat with kindness and respect, but all of the people in our community.  It seems like a simple admonition, but it is not always easy when stuck in traffic or in a slow moving lane at the grocery store.

Hillel suggests that loving one’s neighbor is at the core of the Torah and that we should “go and learn it.” Perhaps we should also “go and practice it” as well.