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dsdumpling said:Lanie, I think you're off to a good start. I've made so many nice friends here.
hey how are u/? im awsoem i ahve no diea how thi spoint system works. all i wnana do is meet and chat to pople.Wisdom Seeker said:Hi. I've been posting on Emma's Drive By Repuation thread for awhile. I've made some really great friends there. But I don't need anymore rep points. I thought that maybe some people would like a thread just to talk without the points.
So, if you're like me and just want to catch up with people. Make some friends. Talk about your day. Tell a joke. Support and edify each other in the spirit of fellowship for fellowships sake. I hope you'll join me here.
This, of course, is the famous "Golden Rule". But the (original) Hebrew presents us with a grammatical anomaly. The (original) Hebrew is:...but you shall love your neighbor as yourself...
The use of the preposition/prefix "le..." goes against the standard rules of Hebrew grammar. Normally, the preposition/prefix "et..." would be used.v'ahavta lere'acha cmocha
See? The moral is in the grammar!Martin Buber utilizes the unusual prefix form of the biblical text to establish a fundamental principle of human relationships - and at the same time strengthen the theological underpinning with which we began our discussion (Buber, I and Thou). We would have expected to find the phrase "You shall love et re'acha" - rather than what actually appears, lere'acha - because the conjunctive et always appears before an objective case; in this case, "your friend" is the object.
A human being is never to be seen as an object, thunders Buber. A fellow human being is never acted upon; he must always be related to (lere'acha). When we use another human being as merely a means to our end, not recognizing him/her as a child of God in the fullness of being, we are establishing an illegitimate "I-it" relationship rather than the biblically mandated "I-thou" relationship. Using another, taking advantage of another, robbing another of his/her freedom of choice - even if they be family members or students - are all forms of slavery, which must be prohibited.
"You must act with love toward your neighbor in the fullness of a relationship of equals because he/she is like you under God the Creator, who demands universal freedom."
From this perspective, I would insist - along with the Tosafot Yom Tov, 1579-1654 (ad loc), and Rabbi Hayim Vital, 1542-1620 (Gate of Holiness) - that "your neighbor" in this context includes gentiles. After all, the text does not read "your brother" or "your colleague."
Moreover, the etymology of re'a (neighbor or friend) seems to include even someone who may be evil (ra)...
Link: http://tinyurl.com/257mh
We should all feel the scriptures are just this special.ssv said:It is a principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis that there is no wasted or redundant ink in the scriptures, that every word and every letter of the Torah are full of meaning & are there to teach us something, and that we can learn much from seemingly trivial turns of phrase, subtle differences in the text, grammatical anomalies, the seeming repetitions of accounts, etc.
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