Let’s talk about Love This week’s torah portion Acharei Mot Kedoshim. Is about love. And it contains what we often call the holiness code. A blueprint for how we as a people living in a society should strive to behave.
The opening words are: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.
Then God explains how people can be holy. God teaches us to Judge others fairly, to not hate our neighbors in our hearts, and to observe God’s laws.
And to love. The Torah says You shall love your neighbor as yourself . We are to love each other, what a concept. We often call this the Golden rule. There is a story in the Talmud. A non Jew comes to Rabbi Hillel and says I’ll convert to Judaism if you teach me the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel replied “which is hateful to you do not do to another. That is the entire Torah and the rest is commentary, now go study
This week’s Torah portion insist that all people must be treated with love. If we can remember to love each other anyone can live a holy life. You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.