February: The Double Love Command
Wednesdays, 12 PM (Noon) Eastern, February 4, 11, 18, & 25
The double love command (Deut 6:5 and Lev 19:18) represents the tendency in the Second Temple period to formulate a concise set of principles that represent the entire Torah. Though the Apostolic Writings is the only source to quote these two verses together as a summary of the whole Torah (Matt 22:37–39, Mark 12: 29–31, Luke 10:27), the precepts of loving God and loving one’s neighbor as epitomes of the Torah are found in various exegetical forms and interpretations in a wide range of literature that both predates and postdates the Gospels. This diversity of interpretations enriches the understanding of the double love command. This course will look at Philo, who propagated the use of the Double love command as a summary of the entire Torah, and in Luke 10:25-37.
Meet Your Instructor
Rabbi, Dr. Vered Hillel
Rabbi Dr. Vered Hillel is an Associate professor at MJTI and adjunct faculty at various Colleges and Universities in Israel and the US. Vered was one of the editors of the TLV Bible and has written/co-authored books on “The Testaments of The Twelve Patriarchs,” as well as published many articles in encyclopedias and prestigious periodicals, most recently focusing on reading the Apostolic Writings “Within Judaism” and “Postsupersessionism.”