Why does "Love your neighbor as yourself" appear specifically in Parashat Kedoshim, and not in the Ten Commandments?
After all, “וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ” (“Ve’ahavta le’re’acha kamocha”, Leviticus 19:18) is the verse that Rabbi Akiva called:
“This is a great principle in the Torah” (Sifra Kedoshim 4:12)
So why is such a fundamental commandment, almost the essence of Judaism, not included in the Ten Commandments?
Here are 4 deep answers that move the heart:
1. The Ten Commandments - the foundation; Parashat Kedoshim - the moral peak
The Ten Commandments are the framework of the covenant - the red lines of a healthy society: do not murder, do not commit adultery, honor your father, and so on.
But Parashat Kedoshim comes to build on this foundation - and to teach how to reach the level of holiness. And there, only there, can one reach the summit:
“Ve’ahavta le’re’acha kamocha” - not just to refrain from harm, but to love.
As Ramban said on the first verse of the parsha:
Be holy - separate yourselves from the permitted.
2. Loving your neighbor - a commandment between people, not between a person and God
The Ten Commandments include both commandments between a person and God (such as “I am the Lord”) and commandments between people. But they do not deal with feelings - rather with basic actions: do not steal, do not murder.
“Love your neighbor” is a tremendous innovation - the Torah commands an inner feeling of love. And this fits a parsha that speaks of inner holiness, not merely external law.
3. A person who is not sanctified cannot truly love
If “love your neighbor” had been placed already in the Ten Commandments - we might have grasped it in a technical or external way.
Only after the Torah teaches you how not to gossip, how to judge fairly, how not to hate - then it says:
“Now love. Now you are capable of truly loving.”
4. Because Parashat Kedoshim was given to all the people, not only to Moses
In Vayikra Rabbah 24 it says:
“This passage was stated in assembly - because most of the principles of the Torah depend on it.”
That is - this is a public parsha, belonging to everyone. And therefore - the Torah placed the peak of moral commandments - love of neighbor - in the heart of the entire community.
The Ten Commandments are the threshold; Parashat Kedoshim is the peak. There are given commandments meant for the person who wants not merely to fulfill duty - but to be holy.
And therefore, only in Parashat Kedoshim - the Torah allows itself to say:
“Love your neighbor as yourself - I am the Lord.”