Love Your Friend

Love your friend* as yourself That is the whole Torah** The rest is commentary How can that be? We are commanded to love God too with all our heart, soul, and might*** So how is just loving your friend to Almighty God not a slight? The answer, of course, lies in the verse -- Who is the friend you can count on Through thick and thin, through bad and worse? ~ Why, that friend is God, foremost and first **** _______________________________________ *Leviticus 19:18: 'Love your friend as yourself,' The word ' your friend' (Hebrew, rey-eh'cha) is often mistranslated into English as 'your neighbor.' In Biblical and Talmudic Hebrew, 'rey'us' always refers to friendship. 'Shakhen' is 'neighbor.' **This is how the Sage Hillel responded to a fellow who wanted to be taught the whole Torah while standing on one leg. (See Talmud Shabbos 31a). ***Deuteronomy 6:5 ****See Proverbs 27:10: 'Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend...' (Your father's friend is God Himself -- Rashi's Commentary).