I read with interest and appreciation the column entitled “Rethinking Jewish-Christian Relationships,” by Father Gabriel Rochelle, in the Las Cruces Bulletin issue of April 22, 2016. His sentiments resonate with much of what I have learned over the years, beginning with courses in my rabbinical seminary training and my experiences in interfaith programming and study.
The “excellent commentary on the New Testament by Jewish scholars” to which Father Gabriel referred is The Jewish Annotated New Testament, edited by Amy-Jill Levine (of Vanderbilt University) and Marc Zvi Brettler and published in 2011 by Oxford University Press. This book could serve as a basis for a community-wide discussion of values that emerge from specific sacred and moral texts which can set parameters for human behavior.
Recent events have led me to think the centrality of Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” in Judaism and in Christianity. In Matthew Chapter 22, Jesus is said to identify that verse from Leviticus as the second of the two greatest commandments (along with “you shall love the Lord your God” from Deuteronomy Chapter 6).
A second century rabbi, Akiba, cited “Love your neighbor as yourself” as the fundamental principle in the Torah, which embodied and, in some cases, superseded, all of the other commandments.
Any discussion of this classic ethical statement, whether in a religious or secular context, should include a consideration of how to define “neighbor.” In an article in the Jewish Annotated New Testament, Dr. Michael Fagenblat of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute explained that the Hebrew word for neighbor in that verse, “ray-a,” can “designate any human being or denote a person with whom one has an intimate relationship, such as a friend.” It seems that, 2000 years ago, the Jewish community and the early Christian community may have applied this commandment primarily to members of one’s own immediate faith group.
However, neither Jews nor Christians could ultimately ignore a second pronouncement from Leviticus Chapter 19 which widened a possible “circle of love”: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the stranger as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
This additional commandment can lead us to another guiding principle that has been expressed in many faiths and cultures.
That principle is the “golden rule,” which advises all human beings on HOW to act AS a neighbor. Rabbi Hillel stated the golden rule in this way, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the central teaching of my heritage. The rest is commentary.”
Matthew Chapter 7 quoted Jesus’ expression of this tenet: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” An online search of “golden rule statements” will yield many more examples.
So, now, we teach “treat others as you want to be treated” as a basic value to apply to our daily lives. It is one that we sometimes remember, and one that we often forget. The golden rule has a way of pulling the command to “love your neighbor” out of the realm of one’s own group and into the broader circle of all humanity, making every person in this world a potential neighbor.
Admittedly, the divisions within and between nations make it difficult to practice this principle, but try, we must. Through thoughtful discussions, through the telling of our stories, and through truly listening to one another, we will continue to walk upon a path of love and respect that many have tread before us.
