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Written by Jonny Caller
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Introduction to לרעך
The 10th Teves saw Nevuchadnetzar, King of Bavel, lay siege to Jerusalem, a first step towards the eventual destruction of the 1st Beis HaMikdash. The gemara[1] explains that the root cause of the destruction was that the brachos that one is obligated to say before learning Torah, birkas haTorah, were not said. Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook[2] explained its meaning as follows: that ‘אשר בחר בנו’, the fact that the Torah had been given to all the Jewish people, rather than just a select few, had not been internalised. They were living their Torah lives as individuals, rather than as a community or as a nation. The Beis Hamikdash was destroyed and Eretz Yisroel was lost, since the connection to fellow Jews and thus to the Jewish Nation, was loose.
Today, the 10th Teves, is therefore a fitting day to launch לרעך, a monthly piece that focuses on the Halachos that govern the מצות בין אדם לחבירו. Its main goals are:
1. 1. To inspire ourselves and others to work on the fulfilment of the interpersonal mitzvos.
2. 2. To raise awareness of the halachic parameters of each of the interpersonal mitzvos.
The importance of working on the fulfilment of these mitzvos cannot be diminished. I heard from Rav Yechiel Emmanuel that according to the Mabit, that is precisely why the interpersonal mitzvos were engraved in a larger font size on the luchos than the מצות בין אדם למקום. Rav Chaim Vital explains that the Torah needed to contain the many behaviour-teaching stories that feature in Sefer Bereishis before the giving of the Torah in order to teach us that דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה, that being a mensch is a prerequisite for truly receiving and living according to the Torah. In addition, out of the less than 300 mitzvos that are fully applicable at this point in time (with no Beis Hamikdash, no Sanhedrin etc), many of them apply only to specific people (e.g. Kohanim, Men, Women etc), in specific times or in specific places. In contrast, many of the interpersonal mitzvos apply at all times, to all Jews.
The name לרעך is inspired by the following beautiful dvar Torah that I heard on Tisha Ba’av 5771 from Rav Zev Leff in the name of the Shlah. The section of the Torah that contains the Ten Commandments comprises 620 letters, which correspond to the 613 mitzvos plus the 7 letters of the final phrase of the section, אשר לרעך - that is to your fellow. The Shlah’s message is that one only merits the crown of the Torah if one looks at the world with a perspective of אשר לרעך, a perspective that focuses on giving to others.
It is with this in mind that Be’ezras Hashem, the launching of לרעך will enable us to gradually learn the Halachos that govern the interpersonal mitzvos. All Halachos will be reviewed by a Posek before being sent, though of course, any halachic questions should be directed to one’s Rov. Next month’s piece will begin the Halachos pertaining to the obligation to judge others favourably.
I have included you in this introductory email, thinking that you might be interested in receiving it. I appreciate that many of you have inboxes flooded with unopened emails, and it is of course totally fine if you wish to unsubscribe at any time. Likewise, please always feel free to email me with any questions, comments or suggestions, and to forward this to anyone who may be interested.
Have a good Shabbos,
Jonny
[1] Nedarim 81a
[2] Torat Eretz Yisrael, p.20. Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook once explained this in a sicha in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav.
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