Licence to hate?

Rabbi Asher Weiss is one of the most popular and respected of contemporary Torah scholars, and rightly so. His opinions are highly sought-after and greatly valued. I have recently been reading his two-volume exegesis on Avot, Rav Asher Weiss on Avos, and was intrigued as to what his take on this fascinating segment of the Oral Law might be.

I think that it is fair to say that, on the whole, the reader will not be treated to a wide variety of personal opinions. Rav Weiss’s objective is to lay Avot open as a platform for the teachings of the Tannaim who composed it and of a selection of the most widely followed commentators who discussed it, rather than to use it—as I try to do—as a means of reflecting how ancient morality plays out in modern times, or as a soapbox from which to promulgate one’s personal prejudices and preferences.

Because Rav Weiss has chosen to follow this path, I tend to place great significance on those relatively infrequent occasions when he chooses to depart from it. One such departure is in his commentary on Avot 3:18 (it’s 3:15 in his book) in which Rabbi Akiva teaches this:

חָבִיב אָדָם שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּצֶֽלֶם, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לוֹ שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּצֶֽלֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי בְּצֶֽלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ בָנִים לַמָּקוֹם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַייָ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם. חֲבִיבִין יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה, חִבָּה יְתֵרָה נוֹדַֽעַת לָהֶם שֶׁנִּתַּן לָהֶם כְּלִי חֶמְדָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי לֶֽקַח טוֹב נָתַֽתִּי לָכֶם, תּוֹרָתִי אַל תַּעֲזֹֽבוּ

Beloved is man, for he was created in the image [of God]; it is a sign of even greater love that it was made known to him that he was created in that image, as it says, "For in the image of God, He made man" (Bereishit 9:6). Beloved are Israel, for they are called children of God; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they are called children of God, as it is stated: "You are children of the Lord your God" (Devarim 14:1). Beloved are Israel, for they were given a precious article; it is a sign of even greater love that it has been made known to them that they were given a precious article, as it is stated: "I have given you a good purchase; My Torah, do not forsake it" (Mishlei 4:2).

On this lengthy mishnah Rav Weiss goes off-piste for a moment and focuses sharply, if discreetly, on the world we live in today. He writes:

“The question was posed by someone who employs a non-Jewish manager in one of his businesses. This fellow serves him with great devotion and efficiency. Naturally, the employer feels gratitude and love toward this employee. But his conscience is disturbing him, and he asks whether it is permitted to love this non-Jew or is it perhaps a mitzvah to hate him.

Before you ask whether it is permisslble to love a non-Jew, you should first ask whether it is actually a mitzvah to love him. For hating anyone—even a non-Jew—is a shameful character trait.

I am aware that among those keepers of the faith, those who are exacting in the performance of mitzvos great and small alike, the idea has taken root that we should hate the non-Jews, and that anyone who says otherwise is suspected to be a ‘modernizer’ worthy of scrutiny. However, I will cite two reliable and holy witnesses who have testified otherwise”.

Rav Weiss invokes in support of his position the authority of Rav Chaim Vital and Rabbeinu Elimelech of Lizhensk, following which he delves back into the Talmud Yerushalmi, where the commentary of the Korban HaEidah reminds us of the primacy of the principle that all humans come from the same father.

In an era where hatred, suspicion and distrust of the other seem to have become so deeply and indelibly ingrained in the human psyche, it is refreshing and welcome to see Rav Weiss endorse so positive an attitude.

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