Last night I had the opportunity to attend a dinner at which the (Ashkenazi) Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yonah Metzger spoke. He shared the following idea that he quoted from the Baal Shem Tov. Instead of reading the פסוק as ואהבת לרעך כמוך - love your neighbor as yourself, an interpretation he finds impossible; how can you possibly love another as you love yourself. We love ourselves a lot! He says to break up the פסוק differently; - ואהבת לרעך - love your friend. כמוך אני ד - as you are, I am Hashem. In other words, the way that HAshem deal with us will mirror the way that we treat each other.
He also opened with what I thought was a pretty good joke. Much has been made of him being the first Israeli Chief Rabbi who was born in Israel. So once, at a conference in England during a Q & A session, someone asked him "What ברכה should I make upon seeing the Chief Rabbi for the first time?". He thought a moment, and then responded, "ברוך אתה ד' אלוקינו מלך העולם... בורא פרי האדמה". (Think about the literal translation for the punchline).
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