Female LessonParashat HashavuaSeries'LibraryPiskei Din (Hebrew)Test YourselfRabbi Akiva cites the Mitzva in our Parsha, "V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha, love your neighbor like yourself" as the "great principle" of the Torah. It basically means that we should treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated. It has almost unlimited applications, such as visiting the sick; welcoming guests; escorting the cortege of the deceased (for at least 4 amot/6 feet); assisting a bride & groom; & giving "first choice" to a neighbor when selling your home. While it is essentially impossible to actually love someone else as much as you love yourself (indeed, self-preservation is mandated by the rabbis) we should regard all others as an intrinsic part of the collective "body" of Am Yisrael, & so harming any point of that body is harmful to ourselves as well. I suggest another idea is that just as we love ourself with all of our faults & failings, so we should love others even with all of their faults, too. From this pasuk we also learn that one should love oneself, while still remaining humble.
The class deals with not "resting on one's laurels", and that not a few people who lived their entire lives idealistically, "lost it" upon getting older. Similarly the importance of not focusing on luxuries but on the necessities of life.
Seemingly 'Strange' Rabbinical Decrees- Not What You Thought!
Rav Kook suggests a very innovative and important "eye-opening" way to understand some of the rabbinical decrees which are particularly difficult to understand!