Rabbi Stephanie Crawley

The Greatest of Gifts

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Ben Spratt

In the heart of Parashat K’doshim , we find a recipe for holiness written into behavior. Love your neighbor as yourself, leave gleanings for the poor, care for the stranger, protect the disabled. Many of these ethical epithets form the backbone of moral society, and resonate across religious and national lines. But the above verse feels oddly off: I pause seeing a positive command to rebuke as somehow linked to an absence of heartfelt hate.