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 Love
Each Other
According to our Master, to love your neighbour
as you love yourself is of the utmost
importance, second only to the commandment to
love God. This commandment is found in
Leviticus: "you shall not take vengeance, nor
bear any grudge against the sons of your people,
but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I
am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:18). The golden
rule perfectly sums up this commandment: "in
everything, therefore, treat people the same way
you want them to treat you, for this is the
Torah and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). This
saying of Yeshua is simply the positive way of
saying what Rabbi Hillel said a generation
earlier: "that which is hateful to you, do
not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah;
the rest is the explanation; go and learn"
(Talmud, Shabbat 31a). The Apostle Paul put
it this way: "the whole Torah is fulfilled in
one word, in the statement, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR
NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF'" (Galatians 5:14). Of
course, we can also include the commandments to
not murder, steal and covet as part of loving
your neighbour (cf. Exodus 20:13, 15, 17).
Not only that, we should not take vengeance upon
each other, as it says in Leviticus: "you
shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge
against the sons of your people..." (Leviticus
19:18). Taking vengeance on someone could be
as simple as "you didn't do that for me, so why
should I do this for you?" It is not our place
to take revenge on our brothers. We are to treat
others as you would have them treat you,
regardless of how they actually treat you.
Really, harbouring hatred in our hearts will
simply lead to wanting to take revenge. Instead,
we should love our neighbour as ourselves and
forgive each other. This is how the people
within God's culture treat each other.
Furthermore, we must never go about to shame a
brother. The sages say that a person who shames
another has no share in the World to Come. We
must always make sure that we never shame,
disgrace or humiliate each other.
Give
Charity
In Deuteronomy it says: "you shall freely
open your hand to him, and shall generously lend
him sufficient for his need in whatever he
lacks" (Deuteronomy 15:8). The giving of
charity is one of the most important
commandments of the Torah. Giving to those in
need is an incredible reminder of God’s grace
towards us. The Sages say that all are under
obligation to give to those in need, even the
one who receives charity. This creates a circle
of charity and creates an economy of giving
rather than greediness. Seeing those in need
should engender compassion within us and give us
an opportunity to shine the light of God’s grace
upon others. We should always endeavour to give
with a cheerful heart, with humility and, if
possible, without raising attention to
ourselves. The Apostle Paul said regarding the
giving of charity: "each one must do just as
he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or
under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful
giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Keep
Your Word
If you really love your fellow man, when you say
you're going to do something, you should do it.
It says in the Torah: "if a man makes a vow
to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself
with a binding obligation, he shall not violate
his word; he shall do according to all that
proceeds out of his mouth" (Numbers 30:2).
Just as God fulfills everything He says He's
going to do, we, as His people, should do all
that we say we are going to do. The Master
explained this commandment this way: “…let
your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no';
anything beyond these is of evil” (Matthew 5:37).
Pay
Your Workers
If you own a business, be sure that you pay your
hired workers according to what you agreed to
pay them. It says in Deuteronomy: "you shall
give him his wages on his day before the sun
sets, for he is poor and sets his heart on it;
so that he will not cry against you to the LORD
and it become sin in you" (Deuteronomy 24:15).
This commandment specifically applies to a day
labourer, that is, one who is hired on a
day-by-day basis but the principle certainly
applies to other situations, where a person gets
paid on accustomed day. As the people of God, we
should be known as people who are true to our
word, so we should not be late in paying the
wages of our hired workers.
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Have
Integrity
God’s people must be people of integrity,
especially in regards to business transactions.
It says in the Torah: "if you make a sale,
moreover, to your friend or buy from your
friend's hand, you shall not wrong one another"
(Leviticus 25:14). If you are selling
something, are you sure the customer is getting
what they paid for? If you are buying something,
are you cheating the seller out what the item or
service costs? Being honest and full of
integrity will certainly set us apart from a
world who takes whatever they can get. What if
you do steal something? To this the Torah says
regarding theft: "it shall be, when he sins
and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what
he took by robbery or what he got by extortion,
or the deposit which was entrusted to him or the
lost thing which he found" (Leviticus 6:4).
If a person has stolen something and the thief
repents, he is obligated to return what he has
stolen. Returning what you have stolen is an
amazing expression of true repentance. This is
evident in Zaccheus: "Zaccheus stopped and
said to the Lord, 'Behold, Master, half of my
possessions I will give to the poor, and if I
have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give
back four times as much'" (Luke 19:8).
Additionally, if we find something that someone
lost, we must return it to them. God’s people
are to be honest people. The Torah puts it this
way: "you shall not see your countryman's ox
or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention
to them; you shall certainly bring them back to
your countryman" (Deuteronomy 22:1). Even if
the owner takes years to claim what was lost,
it’s still our duty to return it to him.
Love
Your Enemies
The principle to do good to those who hate you
originated in the Torah, it says: "if you see
the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless
under its load, you shall refrain from leaving
it to him, you shall surely release it with him"
(Exodus 23:5). Here we see it’s a
commandment to help even those who hate us. The
literal application of this commandment refers
to helping a fellow’s animal if it had fallen
down and wasn’t able to get back up. A modern
application would be to help an enemy with a
flat tire. The general principle of this
commandment is that we must help people who need
our assistance. The Master Yeshua put it this
way: "I say unto you, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:4).
Correct
Each Other
In Leviticus it says: "you shall not hate
your fellow countryman in your heart; you may
surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not
incur sin because of him" (Leviticus 19:17).
It is a commandment to correct a fellow believer
if they have fallen into a sin. We must make
sure not to shame or humiliate the person. This
is perhaps what it means when it says we shall
not incur sin because of him. In other words,
it’s our duty to correct each other, but we must
avoid sinning ourselves. Pride, gossip, and
slander are just several possibilities of what
could result if we’re not careful in how we
correct our fellow Believer. We must also
remember to take the log out of our eye before
removing the speck in someone else’s. The Master
explained how to keep this commandment in
Matthew: "if your brother sins, go and show
him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not
listen to you, take one or two more with you, so
that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES
EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to
listen to them, tell it to the assembly; and if
he refuses to listen even to the assembly, let
him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”
(Matthew 18:15-17).
Guard
Your Speech
Leviticus states: "you shall not go about as
a slanderer among your people, and you are not
to act against the life of your neighbor; I am
the LORD" (Leviticus 19:16). We must make
sure to let people speak for themselves. Even if
the things we are saying is the truth, we must
make sure not to repeat them to others. We all
know that this is how rumours and half-truths
get started. In God’s culture, everyone speaks
for themselves and thus lives or dies by their
own words. The Master Yeshua said: "I tell
you that every careless word that people speak,
they shall give an accounting for it in the day
of judgment. For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be
condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).
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