The Torah portion of Kedoshim contains one of the most important and famous verses in the Torah: “You shall neither take revenge from, nor bear a grudge against, the members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:18).
The great Torah scholar Hillel the Elder was once asked by a prospective convert to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one leg. He answered him by expressing the above dictum in the negative sense, by telling him that which is hateful to you do not do to others. Hillel then explained that this is all the Torah; all the rest is commentary, go now and learn! (Shabbat 31a). Rabbi Akiba similarly taught that loving your neighbor as yourself is the Torah’s cardinal principle (Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 89:4; For a discussion of the subtle difference between “this is all the Torah” and “this is the general principle of the Torah” see Orchard of Delights on this portion).
The Rebbe of Hillel the Elder was Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. He once asked five of his students to [go out in the world and] discern which is the proper attitude or way in life to which a man should cling. In the end he chose the opinion of Rabbi Elazar be Arach who stated “a good heart,” in as much as his opinion included all the others (2:13). It is possible that Hillel discerned from this teaching that a “good heart” is essentially connected to loving your neighbor as yourself.
The idea of identifying fundamental principles on which the Torah stands is elucidated in an important Talmudic discussion (Makkot 24a):
“Rabbi Simlai expounded: Six hundred and thirteen precepts were communicated to Moses, three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts, corresponding to the number of the solar year, and two hundred and forty-eight positive precepts, corresponding to the number of parts of the human body…. David came and established [reduced them to] eleven [ethical and moral requirements as the basis for fulfilling the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot], as it is written: ‘A Psalm of David. God, who shall sojourn in Your Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Your holy mountain? — [1] He that walks uprightly, and [2] causes righteousness, and [3] speaks truth in his heart; [4] has no slander upon his tongue, [5] nor does evil to his fellow man, [6] nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor, [7] in whose eyes a vile person is despised, [8] but he honors those that fear God, [9] he swears to his own detriment without retracting, [10] he does not lend his money on interest, [11] nor takes a bribe against the innocent’…. Isaiah then came and established [reduced them to] six [ethical and moral requirements as the basis for fulfilling the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot], as it is written, ‘[1] One who walks righteously, and [2] and speaks with fairness, [3] who spurns unfair gain, [4] who shakes his hand from holding a bribe, [5] who seals his ears from the hearing of bloodshed, [6] and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high’…. Micah then came and reduced them to three [requirements], as it is written, ‘He has told you, O man, what is good, and what God requires of you: [1] only to do justly, and [2] to love kindness and [3] to walk humbly with your God’… Isaiah came again and further reduced them down to two [principles], as it is said, ‘Thus says God, [1] Observe justice and [2] act with righteousness’ … Finally, Amos came and reduced them all down to one [principle], as it is said, ‘For thus says God, unto the house of Israel, Seek Me and live.’ But, ultimately, it is Habakkuk who came and based them all upon one [principle], as it is said, ‘The righteous shall live through his faith.’”
Although there is a firm tradition that the Torah contains a total of 613 mitzvot, there is much discussion among the various commentators over the ages as to which commands or instructions are included in this number. Although there is agreement on the vast majority of mitzvot that are considered Torah mandated, different commentators include or exclude certain Torah directives from their list. One of them comes from the very beginning of this portion: “And God spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, God, your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:1-2). Some commentators count this instruction to be holy as one of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah, while others do not count this as they consider being holy an all-encompassing cardinal principal that pervades all of the mitzvot and therefore is not counted as a specific mitzvah.
Another attempt to establish and formalize foundational ideas and concepts in the Torah was the devising of the Thirteen Principles of Faith by Maimonides (1138–1204). Although initially there was some opposition to the idea of creating a “set in stone” list of principles of faith, Maimonides’ effort has been widely accepted and is found in many prayer books after the Morning Service.
In a similar, yet more personalized manner, there is a well-known story about the Ba’al Shem Tov who lost his mother very early in life while his father passed away when he was only five years old. Before leaving this world, he imparted to his son two basic principles on which he was to base his life: do not fear anything other than God and to love every Jew. The Ba’al Shem Tov integrated his father’s instructions and fearlessly paved a new way in serving God, understanding the Torah and how to relate to ones fellow Jew and the world at large. His great love for every Jew infused the new Chassidic movement and continues to inspire today. Through personal example he brought the words of loving your neighbor as yourself, and the attempts of Hillel the Elder and Rebbe Akiva to place this mitzvah as the foundational principle of the Torah, to new heights.
Another example of a guiding principle on an individual level can be seen in the following story of the important Chassidic Rebbe, Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Famous as a teacher of children, he repeated to them constantly the idea that the most important thing in the world is to do a favor for someone else. This simple phrase was made famous by Reb Shlomo Carlebach’s classic story of the hunchback he met at Tel Aviv after the war. When it became clear that the hunchback, who at that time was a street cleaner in Tel Aviv, had known personally Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, he begged him to tell him about him. After claiming he could not remember anything due to the severe beatings he had received from the Germans, which caused him to be a hunchback, he did relate one story. He remembered how on Shabbat the Rebbe would gather as many of his young students as possible and to eat with them their Shabbat meals. Inevitably, no matter what he was speaking about, he would tell them: “my sweet children, the most important thing in the world is it to someone else a favor.”
The hunchback related that there were times he felt he could not go on and even considered ending his life. Yet, in those crucial moments of helplessness and hopelessness he always remembered the voice of his Rebbe saying to him: “My sweet child, the most important thing to do in this world is a favor for someone else.” He continued by telling Reb Shlomo – Do you know how many favors you can do for people on the streets of Tel Aviv? The next time Reb Shlomo returned to Tel Aviv he searched high and low for the holy hunchback but was told he had just passed away. It is not a coincidence that Reb Shlomo was known far and wide as one who would do almost anything for another Jew, or for that matter, any human being.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (1902-1994), during his more than 40 years of leading the worldwide Chabad movement chose twelve verses he felt imparted the essence of Jewish tradition and encouraged all children to memorize these verses and to recite them daily. An entire generation of children who are part of the Chabad movement learned and recite these verses.
In the spirit of many of these above examples, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh has chosen five cardinal verses, one from each of the Five Books of Moses that not only capture the main theme of each of the books, but in themselves contain fundamental principles for a proper Jewish worldview.
The first verse comes from the opening verse of the book of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The belief in God as Creator is fundamental to everything else that follows in the Torah. An important principle regarding the creation is that it is not a one-time event but rather God is continually re-creating the world at every moment. Although the account of creation takes relatively few verses, the creative process that is describes manifests itself on every level of reality and serves as a guiding light to our sojourn in this world.
The verse Rabbi Ginsburgh has chosen for the book of Exodus is the first of the Ten Commandments: I am God, your God who has taken you out from the land of Egypt and the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). The book of Exodus describes Israel’s slavery in Egypt, it’s miraculous redemption and climaxes with the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The entire Torah is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments and the first of them – the belief in God and His active Providence in the world – captures the dramatic revelation of God to His people and to the world.
The verse chosen from the book of Leviticus is the subject of the previous Torah portion and discussed above: “You shall neither take revenge from nor bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am God” (Leviticus 19:18).
The verses from the book of Numbers is what is referred to as Birchat Kohanim, The Blessing of the Kohanim, and is discussed above in the portion of Shmini: “May God bless you and watch over you. May God cause His countenance to shine to you and favor you. May God raise His countenance toward you and grant you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26). This blessing which is included in our prayers every day concludes with the word “shalom.” The very last words of the entire Mishna reads: Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, found no vessel that could contain blessing for Israel save that of peace, as it is written: God will give strength unto his people; God will bless his people with peace.”
The last of the verse chosen by Rabbi Ginsburgh comes from the book of Deuteronomy and is considered Judaism’s cardinal statement of faith: “Hear O Israel, God, our God, God is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This statement of faith has strengthened and inspired Jews in every generation.
In summary, we see that over the ages many attempts have been made to distill the infinite nature of the Torah into general fundamental principles that can guide our lives as individuals and to hold the Jewish people together in a community of faith, friendship and purpose.
