Two general mitzvot serve as the basis for all interpersonal relations. The first is the mitzva of loving every Jew. The second is the prohibition of hating any Jew. These mitzvot are rooted in the concept that the entire Jewish people is one big family, hence we must all feel like siblings. As it says, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart . . . Love your fellow as yourself” (Leviticus 19:17-18). These mitzvot are the foundation of the entire Torah, as Rabbi Akiva said: “Love your fellow as yourself – this is a major Torah principle.” According to the Talmud (Shabbat 31a), Hillel the Elder made a similar statement when a prospective convert asked him to teach him the whole Torah on one foot: “What you hate, do not do to your fellow. This is the essence of the Torah. The rest is in the details.”
Our lives are lived primarily within the interpersonal arena – relationships with our family, friends, and neighbors. Thus, most of the mitzvot we encounter are contained in these two general categories. If these principles guide us, we will spend most of our time doing mitzvot. Let us take this a step further. Even the mitzvot that relate to our relationship with God depend on interpersonal mitzvot. If we do not care about other people and do not try to avoid hurting them, we are self-absorbed, living in our own selfish bubble. We are unable to see the world as it really is, so we are unable to open ourselves up to faith in God. Breaking out of the narrowness of egotism and experiencing the vastness of faith can be accomplished through love, love through which we identify with the other and want good for them in the same way we want good for ourselves. This in turn allows us to connect to the vision of perfecting the world through Torah and mitzvot.
