Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, and What About the Gentile?

Hello and blessings, Jacob, and thank you for your interest. Always remember that "She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast" (Proverbs 3:18).

There is an error in the question. The commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself" was not given to the whole world, but only to the people of Israel. Your sister might surely ask, why not?

From a worldly perspective, the mitzvah "Love your neighbor as yourself" is not so simple for the mind. To love strangers as you love yourself? It's one thing if the Torah asked us to help, be caring, considerate, but to love? And not just love, but love as you love yourself?

However, the Torah wanted to elevate the Jew above nature, because through this mitzvah, the people of Israel would be united, unlike other nations. The Torah commanded us a very difficult thing: to love your friend as you love yourself.

The Gentiles, on the other hand, are not commanded by all the Torah precepts, and they are not commanded to love us (and do not usually do so), and therefore we are not commanded to act towards them with the strictness of the mitzvot for our fellow people. Surely it is forbidden to harm a Gentile, and even theft from a Gentile is forbidden by Halacha. Furthermore, the Talmud tells us of Tannaim and Amoraim who passed down the education of generations by performing acts of kindness with Gentiles. But, in principle, we are not commanded to act with extra piety towards Gentiles like with our own people. Just as it is appropriate for you to care more for your children than for the children of the neighbors, so too does the Torah want you to act with extra piety with your "neighbor" - the people of Israel, whom you should love as much as yourself.

Nevertheless, even if we are not commanded to love the Gentile with extra love, why not drink from their wine?

The prohibition of "Yayin Nesech" was not intended to harm a Gentile's feelings, Heaven forbid (the Gentile also understands that this is a halachic requirement of the religion and will not feel offended, as it is not a personal issue against him). This prohibition can be attributed to two reasons, one halachic and the other educational:

The halachic reason is that the Torah forbade us to benefit from idolatry and anything related to it, and to distance ourselves from idolatry like from fire. Unfortunately, many Gentiles engage in idol worship, or perform rituals of idol worshipers even nowadays. Wine is an important drink in Judaism, and we sanctify it every Shabbat. Since the intentions of the idol-worshipping Gentile prohibit their wine for us, we are forbidden to benefit from a Gentile's wine. Even in our days, concerns remain: Christians, as known, believe in a god who became a man named Jesus, they believe in three gods (the "Trinity belief"), and many rabbis have discussed their faith. Christians also "sanctify" wine with the strange belief that the wine turns into the blood of the crucified in their stomachs. Muslims believe in only one Hashem, but they still uphold some rituals of ancient idol worshipers, such as bowing to Mecca towards a black stone that used to belong to idol worshipers, and Muslims have replaced their customs. Nevertheless, it is clear that Muslim faith is closer to the truth, so their wine is prohibited only in drinking but not in other enjoyment. In any case, the Torah intended for us to distance ourselves from idolatry and all related risks, therefore we do not drink wine opened by a Gentile. You, as a Jew who does not want to hurt anyone's feelings, should initially avoid situations where a Gentile offers you wine, which the scholars aimed for in their prohibition:

Here we touch on the educational reason: the Torah taught us that "a people that dwells alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." Hashem wants the Jewish people to be different from all the nations in the world, and not to connect with other nations that do not act according to divine guidance (this is not related to racism, as any Gentile who accepts the Torah and mitzvot becomes a full Jew in every respect).

The Torah wished to distance us from those whose ways are distant from Hashem and the Torah. Since the Gentiles are far from keeping the Torah, they are known for behaviors bordering on indecency, coarse speech, violence, etc. Through laws like this, Judaism distances us from dining with Gentiles, drinking wine in Gentile taverns ("bar"), and associating with Gentiles, so that we do not learn from their deeds. Thus, it is said in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah, page 31) that another reason for the prohibition is "because of the store and drink," meaning to distance us from Gentile gatherings. As we have seen, the prohibition is anchored in two reasons: the laws of Yayin Nesech and marriage prohibition (Yoreh De'ah, sign 129:11).

Although we are not commanded to love the Gentile as we love our fellow, we certainly must not harm them or their feelings, and thus it is advisable to avoid such situations, and it is possible, if necessary, to explain to the Gentile the obligation of the halachic prohibition, which is not personally addressed to him.

Yours sincerely, Daniel Balas