Monday, June 14, 2010

Love Your Neighbor

Mat 22:36 "Rabbi, which of the mitzvot(commandment) in the Torah is the most important?"
Mat 22:37 He told him, " 'You are to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.'
Mat 22:38 This is the greatest and most important mitzvah.
Mat 22:39 And a second is similar to it, 'You are to love your neighbor as yourself.'
Mat 22:40 All of the Torah and the Prophets are dependent on these two mitzvot."
Complete Jewish Bible

These are the words of Jesus and most Christians, and many Jews, believe that He created the "Golden Rule". But Yeshua, Jesus, was quoting the Torah, the Hebrew Bible.

Lev 19:18 Don't take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.

Embedded in the command to "Love your neighbor as yourself" is direction to "love yourself". It has been put forward in Psychological studies that people who do not like themselves have difficulty liking others. Baal Hem Tov gives guidance for those who do like themselves on how to succeed with this commandment; "Just as we love ourselves despite the faults we know we have, so should we love our neighbors despite the faults we see in them."
Credit: Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

If you have the opportunity to read the above reference then do so. It is intended to teach Jews about being Jewish. But there are many connections with the Messiah Yeshua and His Jewish lineage.

No comments:

Post a Comment