Kedoshim 5786: Learning to Love

About this episode

The episode explores the concept of loving your neighbor as yourself through the lens of Parshat Kedoshim and the development of holiness and character.

What does it take to truly love your neighbor as yourself? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy explore Parshat Kedoshim and its central call: “You shall be holy.” Moving from foundational commandments to the demand to love one’s neighbor, they examine how holiness is shaped not only by laws, but by character. Through rabbinic interpretation, they show how seemingly simple mitzvot expand into a deeper ethic—challenging us to move beyond competition, judgment, and instinct toward empathy, responsibility, and generosity. The conversation asks how we train ourselves, step by step, to become people capable of genuine love.

People in this episode

Guests: Zvi Hirschfield, Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy

Topics covered

• love your neighbor
• holiness
• commandments
• character development
• rabbinic interpretation
• empathy
• generosity

Keywords

• love
• neighbor
• holiness
• commandments
• empathy
• responsibility
• generosity
• rabbinic interpretation
• Kedoshim

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Parshat Kedoshim

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