This comprehensive dictum of morality, the golden rule of human conduct, originated in the Torah. Chazal relate an incident between Hillel and a gentile who asked him to condense the entire Torah into its briefest possible form. Hillel answered, “What is hateful unto you, do not do unto your friend.” This statement has become the accepted interpretation of “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We may wonder why Hillel rephrased the pasuk into a negative form. Indeed, it would seem implied that Hillel focused only on negative morality – which definitely does not present a Torah perspective. Horav Yisrael Salanter, zl, raised this question in response to an incident which involved two Jews.
A Maggid, preacher whose livelihood was derived from the mussar lectures he gave in various towns, once came to a shul in Kovne that belonged to a noted wealthy merchant. The maggid asked permission to deliver his drashah that afternoon. The merchant replied in the negative, since the hours coincided with his Talmud shiur. The maggid’s retort, that he needed the money he would earn from the lecture, did not seem to move the merchant.
Rav Yisrael Salanter, who was studying in the shul at the time, overheard the dialogue between the two. He turned to the merchant and asked, “Why does Hillel emphasize the negative in interpreting the phrase, “Love your neighbor as yourself?” Why did he not simply say, ‘What is good for you – do also for your friend?'” “The reason,” offered Rav Yisrael, “is that to demand that one do for others what is good for him is not necessarily correct. That which is good for one is not always good for another. For instance, let us examine our present situation. For you, it is good to study your shiur right now. The maggid, however, who is starving and in need of his meager earnings, must deliver his drashah right now. What are we to do? Shall we do what is good for you, or what is good for the maggid? Hillel responds with his interpretation of the Torah‘s message, ‘What is not good for you, do not do unto others.’ Consequently, my friend, put aside your Talmud and permit the maggid to deliver his drashah.”
