Love Your Fellow Like Yourself
Dear friends, Imagine you and a good friend are stranded somewhere in the dessert. The sun is scorching hot and you both become very thirsty. However, there is a problem; you have only one bottle of water to drink and it isn't enough for the both of you. What is the right thing to do in this situation? Is it to give the drink to your friend and die, or should you take it for yourself and let your friend die? The answer to this question, in the words of the great Rabbi Akiva, is "Your life comes first". When it comes to choosing between loving yourself and loving others, you must love yourself before others. However, this seems to contradict one of the most widely known Jewish dictums which appear in this week's Parasha. The Torah states "Love your fellow like yourself, I am Ha'Shem" (Vayikra 19). At first glance it appears the torah expects us to love others just as we love ourselves. This would imply that we must think about others before ourselves. However, the Ramban, (Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman), explains that the obligation to love your fellow like yourself does not extend to placing others before you. Rather, the Torah means that a Jew should be happy for his friend's success as if it were his own. We must not feel jealous of our fellow Jew's good fortune, since we are all one people. A person cannot realistically be expected to love others to the same degree as he loves himself, but he can want the best for them.
A Life Lesson
It is truly difficult to really wish the best for others. Perhaps that is the reason why the Torah states the words "I am Ha'Shem", following this commandment. Since only one whose actions are motivated by a desire to fulfill the Almighty's will, can overcome the natural jealousy that exists between people. It is as if the Torah is telling us to do it not only for the other person, but for God himself.
Shabbat Shalom
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