When the sages, in our double Torah portion of
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim this week, addressed the classic Jewish commandment to âLove your fellow as yourselfâ (Leviticus 19:18), they wondered: How is it possible to require that we can love others as much as we love ourselves?Â
Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein (1860-1941), best known for his commentary âTorah Temimah (The Perfect Torah),â based on a teaching of Maimonides, says we are enjoined to treat our fellow human beings with honor and respect. Maimonides writes: âEach man is commanded to love each and every one of Israel as himself, as the verse states.âÂ
In âThe Metsudah: Chumash/Rashiâ by Rabbi Avrohom Davis, the translation follows virtually every other ChumashI am familiar with, but it adds, like Maimonides, âYou shall love your fellow [Jew] as yourself.â This begs the question: Does the Torah confine this love to just Jews or all of humankind? Â