Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
We all have a sense of who we are. It feels obvious. Familiar.
But that picture is likely incomplete.
Where does the self begin, and where does it end?
In this week’s parsha, we encounter the command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
What is the “self” we are being asked to understand?
Drawing on the teachings of Pirkei Avot and the insights of our sages, including the profound perspective of Rabbi Shimon Shkop, the Torah opens a deeper question about identity, one that lies at the heart of how we relate to ourselves and to others.
It is a question that challenges some of our most basic assumptions about selfhood.
In this week’s talk on Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein explores a question that reshapes how we think about identity, responsibility, and what it means to be human.
Key Questions:
- Where does the self begin, and where does it end?
- Is self-love the opposite of selflessness? Or is it a part of it?
- What does it really mean to love your neighbour “as yourself”?
We all have a sense of who we are. It feels obvious. Familiar.
But that picture is likely incomplete.
Where does the self begin, and where does it end?
In this week’s parsha, we encounter the command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
What is the “self” we are being asked to understand?
Drawing on the teachings of Pirkei Avot and the insights of our sages, including the profound perspective of Rabbi Shimon Shkop, the Torah opens a deeper question about identity, one that lies at the heart of how we relate to ourselves and to others.
It is a question that challenges some of our most basic assumptions about selfhood.
In this week’s talk on Parshat Acharei-Kedoshim, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein explores a question that reshapes how we think about identity, responsibility, and what it means to be human.
Key Questions:
- Where does the self begin, and where does it end?
- Is self-love the opposite of selflessness? Or is it a part of it?
- What does it really mean to love your neighbour “as yourself”?
