Loving Good, Fighting Evil \ Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
The Nation of Israel (Beit Midrash)
The Shiur was given in Tevet 5676
Loving Good, Fighting Evil
Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
Written by the rabbi
1. Your Fellow as Yourself
2. Loving Good, Fighting Evil
3. Israel Today
4. Benefit of the Doubt
Your Fellow as Yourself
The concept of loving the nation of Israel ("Ahavat Yisrael") is without a doubt
grounded in both Jewish faith and law. The Torah states, "Love your fellow as
yourself," but the Torah does not command a person to love his fellow more than
himself.
The legal definition of this command is, as Rabbi Akiva says in the negative: "That
which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." The Talmud brings a case to
demonstrate this law: If two people are walking in the desert and only one had water,
the one with the water is not obligated to share his water with his fellow. Your life
takes priority over your fellow's.
The "Yad Rama" says that the source of the prohibition against inflicting harm on
one's fellow is the positive commandment to "love your fellow as yourself," i.e., what
you would not like others to do to you, do not do to others. Yet the Torah does not
command in the positive to help others in the same manner that one would help
himself, for it is impossible to demand of somebody to love another person the way
he loves himself. This goes against human nature. A person must only be careful not
to do to others what he would not like others to do to him.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the command "Do not go around as a gossiper
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Loving Good, Fighting Evil \ Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
The Nation of Israel (Beit Midrash)
among your people" (Leviticus 19:16), the Chafetz Chaim says that it applies to one
who is your companion in the Torah and its commandments. It does not, however,
apply to a miscreant, for such a person does not perform the deeds of "your people."
When the Torah demands a high ethical standard, it also permits certain things, such
as publicizing information about a person who does not observe the Torah and its
commandments so that the public will not be drawn after him.
Loving Good, Fighting Evil
The Talmud contains statements which evince fairly positive treatment of even the
wicked: "Even the empty ones amongst you are full of virtuous deeds like a
pomegranate" (Sanhedrin 37a, Megillah 6). The inhabitants of the land of Israel are
described as righteous, for were this not so the land would vomit them out. On the
other hand, it is written "I will hate those who hate You, God" (Psalms 139:21). How
can these matters be resolved?
According to Jewish mysticism, there is no complete evil in the world. Every evil
contains a kernel of good. The early sages understood that there is nothing which is
wholly negative; however, in terms of revealed existence, we are obligated to do
battle with evil. The Torah determines what is good and what is evil, and if a person
sins we must express opposition. On a profoundly conceptual level we do not oppose
the existence of evil as such, for it contains some good. However, it is inconceivable
that this should influence our actual response to evil. An innate inner goodness need
not hamper our opposition to the manifestation of evil.
A distinction must be drawn between the hatred of evil and the hatred of people.
Rabbi Kook writes that when it comes to public counsel, we cannot make innate traits
a consideration; this weakens our ability to oppose evil (Shemonah Kevatzim). It is
difficult for a simple person to distinguish between good and evil. A person must be
very great in order to make such distinctions. The general public must oppose evil,
not cover it over.
These words of Rabbi Kook stem from an inner understanding that evil contains
something good. There is an opinion that Esau kissed Jacob with his whole heart.
Even Esau contains great things. Not everything is negative, but we must know how
to define our enemies and do battle with them. Positive innate traits are good on a
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Loving Good, Fighting Evil \ Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
The Nation of Israel (Beit Midrash)
conceptual level, but they lack necessary practical application. And this does not
contradict the good point that exists in all evil in the world. Amalek must be blotted
out from "under the heavens." Above the heavens, however, there is good.
Both Rabbi Yehudah Gershoni (in his "Mishpat Hamelucha") and R' Chaim of Brisk
explain that all of the nations that have tried to exterminate Israel have the status of
Amalek. There is a course which our world follows on a revealed level, and at the
same time there are points in the inner world which do not contradict this actual,
revealed course of events.
Exaggerating these good points blurs opposition to evil. It is forbidden to let the
course of the hidden world influence our revealed world. In the revealed world we
must actively oppose evil. However, there are levels. We must strive to see the good
in the Jewish people. They are subject to influences and they sometimes err.
Israel Today
At the time of the establishment of the state of Israel, a portion of the religious public
cut itself off completely, but we claimed to share a common denominator with the
general public - Aliya, the Land of Israel, settlement, the integrity of the nation of
Israel and the land of Israel. To our great chagrin, a portion of the secular public has
since then disengaged itself entirely from its Jewish heritage. It is not the same public
today that existed seventy years ago, and this is what has lead to the disengagement
from nationalism and the land of Israel.
Our beloved mentor, the late Rabbi A. I. Kook, writes that Judaism cannot be
supported by grains of Jewish history and knowledge of the Hebrew language alone.
An approach to Judaism which relies solely upon these elements will turn into a
monster of hatred toward the Nation of Israel and the land of Israel.
There are people today who are very anxious to hand over parts of our land to the
enemy, but God has made our adversaries obstinate. Were this not the case, these
people would have handed over the land of Israel long ago. What common
denominator do we have today with these people? What goal shall we pursue
together? They even undermine national pride. After all, they seek to obscure our
Jewish identity. True, the Jewish people as a whole is healthy - this can be seen by
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Loving Good, Fighting Evil \ Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
The Nation of Israel (Beit Midrash)
the high rate of enlistment in the recent war - but there is a group of people that has
taken control over certain areas. With them there exists a dilemma in finding a
common ground.
Benefit of the Doubt
And how am I supposed to treat an ordinary Jew who harms me? What if somebody
harms me unintentionally?
First of all, I must attempt to reprimand him. Regarding this it is written, "Do not hate
your fellow in your heart." If he refuses to listen, there is no obligation to love him.
The sages say that the Torah only warns against hating somebody in one's heart,
without reprimanding him. There is no prohibition, however, against hating somebody
who refuses to accept reproach.
It is impossible to hate somebody who harms inadvertently. However, it goes without
saying that one must oppose such behavior and attempt to prevent it. If possible,
such a person must be given the benefit of the doubt. Yet, if despite the fact that he
has been made aware of his transgression he refuses to change his ways, it is
impossible to continue to defend his behavior.
The Apocrypha relates that the Maccabee priests, in their war with the Greeks, killed
Hellenist Jews as well. Yet, how is this possible in light of the blessing that God
bestowed upon the priests: "I hereby grant him my covenant of peace" (Numbers
25:12)?
If we go upon the assumption that what is written in the Apocrypha is true, there were
Jews who became Hellenists and joined the Greeks in their battle against Israel.
They were criminals, traitors, and the Torah says, "Purge the evil from your midst"
(Deuteronomy 13:6). The Levites acted in accordance with this verse when they
attacked those who worshiped the Golden Calf and those who tried to dishearten the
people and return to Egypt.
At the time of the Maccabees, the Jewish people were in a state of war, and in a
state of war there is no need for witnesses. These people were not merely were
swept up in things. If the Hasmoneans, who were loyal to Torah law, targeted them,
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Loving Good, Fighting Evil \ Rabbi Dov Lior shlit"a
The Nation of Israel (Beit Midrash)
we can be sure that these Hellenists were acting against the Jewish people. True,
inwardly, these Hellenists possessed an innate choseness, but because outwardly
they waged war on Israel, they had to be purged.
E-mail : beitel@yeshiva.org.il
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