Oral Law Assignment

I chose Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself.” As I was reading the list of mitzvot, this commandment caught my eye. Ever since kindergarten, my parents instilled the belief of the “golden rule”. This commandment is saying to always give the benefit of the doubt. Holding a grudge on someone is unfair towards the other individual because it is not allowing the individual to repent and try to fix their mistakes. “Love your fellow as yourself” is a moral all individuals should live by. Treating someone the way they would want to be treated would solve almost every problem. For example, an individual would not steal from another because they would not want robbery done to them. I believe this “golden rule” is a full embodiment of all the mitzvot. Following this rule can be a guideline as a Jew in the modern world because it will help me think before I act. Instead of acting solely on instinct, I will think of how my actions might affect other people as well as how they would affect myself.

This picture is of our whole EIE group after climbing Masada. I believe this is a perfect example of "you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countryman. Love your fellow as yourself" because as a group of 62 high school students, drama and tension exist between all of us. However, we are able to look past these differences, and not hold grudges against each other and love each other as individuals. Also, throughout the hike, we helped one another so everyone could achieve the difficult task of climbing Masada. Obviously, "you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countryman. Love your fellow as yourself" is one of the most important commandments because it encompasses all of the commandments into a concise statement and is eseential in the creation of lifelong friendships like the ones created on EIE.