Comentários de Citação sobre Levítico 19:18

השב תשיבם לאחיך, “be sure to restore them to your brother.” The Torah commands that we be very cautious to observe the commandment to restore lost property to its owners. Concerning the repetition of the words השב תשיבם, “be sure to restore,” our sages in Baba Metzia 30 explain that one has to keep doing this even 100 times if necessary. All of this is part of the paths of mercy and kindness which we are to practice vis-a-vis each other seeing we are all the sons of one father. As such each one of us is vitally interested in what is useful for his fellow. We express our pity for lost property of our brother in practical terms by restoring it to him whenever possible. It matters not whether our brother has lost inert possessions or livestock such as his ox or donkey. Any kind of lost property is included in the Torah’s directive to restore it to the loser. This wording refers to minor utensils worth less than a garment, livestock, etc., which we have found and which can be identified by the loser. The positive commandment is followed by the negative one not to try and escape this obligation by turning a blind eye and not picking up the lost object for oneself either.
There is more to the commandment to restore lost property than merely the act of restoring it. If a person is in a position to perform a useful service for his fellow and to thereby protect his fellow against financial loss, this is all part of the commandment under discussion here. All of this is part of the “umbrella” commandment in Leviticus 19,18: “love what is your fellow’s as if it were your own!”
Concerning the practical ramification of the words: “you must not hide yourself” (from your brother’s lost property), and the subsequent semi phrase (verse 4) “you may hide your self from them,” the sages in Sifri have this to say: if the finder is an aged individual, a scholar, and it is not in keeping with his dignity to carry a bulky object in order to fulfill the commandment (personally) to restore this object to its owner, the Torah permits such a person to turn a blind eye to the object he has found. Ordinary individuals, on the other hand, are not permitted to use this ruse.

זה ספר תולדת אדם, “this is the book of the history of mankind.” G–d even gave Adam an outline of the family trees of future generations. Some of this is reflected by the interpretations given by famous sages to the verse in Leviticus 19,18: ואהבת לרעך כמוך, (normally translated as “love your fellow man as yourself). In Torat Kohanim Rabbi Akiva is quoted as saying that that verse teaches us “a great rule, an all inclusive concept,” (a variation of Hillel who summed up the essence of Judaism as don’t do to others what you would not have do them to you.) Ben Azzai understands the words as applying to the end of the verse, i.e. אני ה', “I am the Lord,” a reminder that all human beings have been created in the image of the Lord, so that no race can feel superior to another race, [regardless of the colour of their skin. Ed.] He applies the verse even to people who due to their humility have a low esteem of their own value as not being allowed to forget that we are all descended from the same origin. Everyone must respect his fellow man’s dignity and honour, regardless of how unassuming he himself happens to be. He must look at the likeness of his fellow man seeing that he cannot look at himself objectively. [We are not speaking of mirror images. Ed.] It follows that our verse is more far-reaching in meaning than the verse quoted from the Book of Leviticus.

יפחתו לו בכבוד המקום – he (Rabbi Tzadok) is raising an objection on the matter of Rabbi Eliezer, for just as that you open [to elicit regret] with the honor of his father and mother, and we don’t suspect that perhaps he will lie, let him open [to elicit regret] with the honor of “the Place” (i.e., God) and they will inform him, that if you had known that you would be called wicket before “the Place” (i.e., God), you would never take a vow? But the Sages said to him according Rabbi Eliezer, that from here, you will not find you will not support them, for even Rabbi Eliezer admits to this, specifically that he may lie, for a person a person is not so impudent that he would not set aside something for the honor of “the Place” (i.e., God), and it is not similar to that of Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel (see Talmud Nedarim 22a) who opened [to elicit regret] for that person (Proverbs 12:18): “There is blunt talk like sword thrusts [But the speech of the wise is healing].” That there he says to him from the Biblical verses like that which is taught in our Mishnah (see Tractate Nedarim, Chapter 9, Mishnah 4) that he is transgressing on (Leviticus 19:17): “You shall not hate your kinfolk in your heart,” (Leviticus 19:18): “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen.” But when we mention to him the honor of God (i.e., המקום ), then he certainly is lying. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

I love You Heb. ארחמך, I love You, as the Targum renders (Lev. 19:18): “and you shall love your neighbor,” ותרחם.