Kedoshim
The
Peak of Torah
There
are many ways of calculating the middle of the Torah. If you look for the
middle theme of the middle book of the Torah, the center of the Torah is found
in Parshat Kedoshim, in the verse V'ahavtah l'reiacha kamocha, love your
neighbor as yourself.
This
particular middle invites us to think of Torah as a mountain. As we read the
first two and a half books, we climb the mountain, seeking essential spiritual
truth. On the mountaintop, we find the core teaching "love your neighbor
as yourself." We retrace ours steps, enlightened, enriched, and
transformed.
This
image of the Torah invites us to reflect on this week's sefirah, divine
attribute, in the counting of the Omer: netzach, endurance. Learning the
core teaching about love is our reward for walking a path of self-awareness,
mitzvot and growth. And implementing this teaching is our inspiration and our
tool to continue.
What
exactly does this core teaching mean? Our sages have suggested many answers. "Do
not judge another until you have stood in another's place." "Do not
bear a grudge." "Do not do to others what you would hate for them to
do to you." "This is the concrete life-practice of loving God."
Ultimately,
it does not matter which interpretation is correct. If each of us can learn
through our climb up life's path how to practice even one of principles, we
will be enlightened, enriched, and transformed.
Return to Reb Laura's "Taste
of Torah" list.
Return to
"Teachings from Our Rabbis and Friends" list.
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