Weekly Torah Portion

The Talmud relates a famous, fascinating story. A man came to the great sage Rabbi Shammai and said that he wanted to convert to Judaism. But he had one condition: he wished to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one leg. Rabbi Shammai, who thought that the man was making fun of the Torah, promptly turned him away and told him not to waste his time again.

He then went to another great sage, Rabbi Hillel, and made the same bizarre request. Rabbi Hillel, however, was unphased and told the man to tell him when he was ready. So the man stood on one leg and faced Rabbi Hillel expectantly. The latter then said: “What is hateful to you, do not do to others. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation of this – go and study it!”

Rabbi Hillel understood that the man was really asking for the fundamental idea that Judaism is founded upon. Therefore he taught him that the foundation is to treat others the way you want to be treated, and then he sent him off to study the rest of the detailed laws of the Torah, all of which emerge from this principle.

Sadly, many people misunderstand this powerful idea. A tragic example of this is with the students of Rabbi Akiva. During a period of 32 days, 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva’s students died in a sudden, fatal plague. Our rabbis in hindsight explained that the reason they died was that they did not treat one another with enough respect. As a result, they were not fitting to be the ones to pass on the Torah to future generations.

They had missed the important idea that kindness and proper behavior toward others must come before absorbing the rest of the Torah. Therefore, despite their tremendous Torah knowledge and all their years of intense study, these students died because their scholarship was flawed.

After this tragedy, Rabbi Akiva had other outstanding students, and from then on he was known to say: “Love others as you love yourself; this is the fundamental rule in the Torah.” Indeed, he is often quoted with this famous verse.

The period when the many students died fell between Pesach and Shavuot, which we are currently commemorating. This was no coincidence. Each year during this time we count the days up until Shavuot, the time we received the Torah at Mount Sinai.

As we count the days we prepare for the annual holiday when we renew our commitment to observe the messages of the Torah. And how do we prepare? Not by learning the laws or trying to understand the commandments better. We prepare by improving the way we treat other people and by making an effort to become nicer, kinder people. Before we “receive” the Torah, we first need to treat others properly and then we will be able to understand and fulfill the rest of the Torah.

Every year while counting up toward Shavuot, we also mourn the tragic death of Rabbi Akiva’s students, to remember the key message that kindness and proper treatment of others must come before a true understanding of Torah.