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Verse 18 contains the pivotal maxim: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. In a speech given in 1944 to a gathering of youth groups in Haifa, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion referred to these words as an example of how Judaism serves as a paradigm of a society built on morality, peace and love: “Ours was a tiny nation inhabiting a small country, and there have been many tiny nations and many small countries, but ours was a tiny nation possessed of a great spirit, an inspired people that believed in its pioneering mission to all men, in the mission that had been preached by the prophets of Israel. This people gave the world great and eternal moral truths and commandments. This people rose to prophetic visions of the unity of the Creator with His creation, of the dignity and infinite worth of the individual (because every man is created in the divine image), of social justice, universal peace, and love- “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This people was the first to prophesy about “The End of Days,” the first to see the vision of a new human society.” Fulfill this Biblical commandment by loving your Israeli neighbor in need of daily sustenance to complete their Godly mission on earth.
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