A Thought on Parshas Kedoshim

"...lo sisna es achi'cha bil'vav'echa, ho'chai'ach tochiach..." "...do not hate your fellow in your heart; reprove him..." (19:17) Last week we learned ibn Shu'aib's thesis that the "klal gadol" of "love your neighbor" is its unifying status in linking many related mitzvos. ibn Shu'aib shows how many mitzvos which govern interpersonal conduct are "pratim", facets, of the broader principle of caring about others and their possessions. This week, he examines the related mitzva cited above, which he views as a "prat" of the "klal gadol." He sees the initial clause, not hating, as an admonition that Jews must not generate sinas chinam - baseless hatred. This is the meaning of "do not hate your fellow." He then draws attention to the entire verse, which focuses on "not hating in the heart." What is added by commanding us not only to avoid hate, but to avoid hate in the heart? What is added when the verse next directs us to "reprove the one whom we hate", then ends by instructing us "not to bear a sin" because of someone? These appear to be three distinct pratim, and the entire gestalt of this verse needs clarification. ibn Shu'aib offers this approach to the verse's three facets: If you are told something negative about another person, do not keep your reactive hatred within yourself. Do not conceal it. We cannot hide intense feelings, such as hatred, within our hearts because, he writes, as the saying goes "hearts are like mirrors." Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei (27:19) "as water reflects a face back to a face, so does the heart reflect back to the heart." If you hate someone deeply within, the object of your hatred, the person whom you detest, will pick up a reflection of your feelings for him. So, you simply are not able keep it in. The Torah says, "don't even try to keep your hatred concealed." You will fail. He cites a midrash (Sifrei Devarim 1:27) which declares, "whatever is in your heart for another is what he will form in his heart about you." So what must we do when we hate? As ibn Shu'aib taught us last week, it is not natural to tell people that they cannot hate. It happens. Sometimes we do feel hatred for someone, such as when we have learned about their wrongdoings. This is why the next clause says, "reprove him." ibn Shu'aib explains that if something bothers you about someone, tell him. If he has done something very wrong, confront him. Clear the air. Tell him what you feel about him and then try to work it out. This is what it means to "reprove him." The final clause, "do not bear a sin" refers to the problem of keeping the hatred in: if you fail to talk it through with the other person, you are transgressing the sin of holding hatred within your heart. So, the verse means: "Do not keep your hatred in your heart. Confront the person. Otherwise, you are holding on to the hatred within and bearing a sin of your own." Good Shabbos. D Fox