 |  | Parshat Behar teaches us, “And you shall not aggrieve one another but you shall fear your God; for I, the Lord, am your God” (Vayikra 25:17). This verse has two components. First, that we are not the aggrieve one another. That is to say, as a nation, each person must understand that they stand as equals in the eyes of God. No one is better than another, because God is equally the God of all. Whether one is wealthy or poor, strong or weak, healthy or ill, God views us all as equals, and that is how we must view and treat one another. This takes us to the second component of our verse, “but you shall fear your God.” What does this mean in this context? According to Rav Hirsch, “God watches over all communal life. For God does not dwell only in the Sanctuary. Rather, He dwells in the midst of the people, and blesses its commerce. But God bestows His blessings only if commerce brings prosperity and happiness to all; only if one person does not wrong and aggrieve the other, and one does not abuse the position he has attained, to cheat the other. God bestows His blessing, only if the truth of all truths, ‘I am the Lord your God,’ is realized in every phase of our lives, both as individuals and as a nation” (Commentary on Vayikra 25:17).
God blesses our community to the extent to we bless each other. All of us are equally bound to one another, and the success of the individual must always come with a wider sense of a moral obligation to help bring success to all. Indeed, we are all equal in the eyes of God, but our great challenge is to see each other as equals in our own eyes. If we can understand that everything we have ultimately belongs to God, then we can also understand that all of us belong to Him as well.
When we achieve great things as individuals, we should always wonder, how will this achievement help my community, my people, my nation? While it is true, we are all entitled to the fruits of our own labor, we should also feel that our achievements are made possible by the community and people who love and support us, and we should endeavor to use our resources for the common good, for bringing peace and joy, for spreading kindness and ensuring strong Jewish identity through the institutions we support. This Shabbat, let us seek ways to see our accomplishments as being a part of a larger whole, able to meet to needs of the many, sharing in the love of the nation. May we all realize that all that we have is but a reflection of our commitment to each other, and that knowing that the Lord is our God enables us to know that just as God views us as equally invaluable, we should view each other as equally invaluable to our achievements, meant to elevate us all in God’s eyes, and in our own as well.
Shabbat Shalom!
- Rabbi Dan
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