Thank you for joining us for lesson five of the Kabbalah of You.
Introduction
The concept of loving our fellow is a basic concept of Judaism. But can we really achieve this in relation to every single person?
Rabbi Akiva & Hillel
Rabbi Akiva said the the Torah commandment to Love Your Fellow As Yourself is a great principle of the Torah. Hillel said the Golden Rule, What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. This is all of Torah. Although these two concepts are the foundations of our relations with other people, what is their connection to Mitzvot that are totally personal like Kashrut, Shabbat etc?
Love As Yourself; Is it even possible?
How can we be commanded to love every person in the same manner that we love ourselves. We love others because of reasons, but our self love is without reason. Because of this difficulty, many commentaries explain the commandment to be about how we act, not how we feel.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Chabad Rebbe, explains that it all depends on how we view ourselves. If we see ourselves as primarily physical beings, we are then distinct from other people and can never feel towards them as we feel towards ourselves. If however we view our G-dly souls as our primary existence, then the essence of our existence is the same as another Jew. So they are me and I am them and my self love can extend to them.
Unifying with everyone and everything
We unite with other Jews by defining ourselves by our G-dly souls. The Jewish Soul is unique, hence the special bond with all Jews. But G-dliness exists in all people. If we view them as an expression of G-dliness, we have found common ground to unite with all mankind.
This can then be expanded to include the G-dly energy that exists in all parts of the universe. Everything and everyone is part of G-d's universe and shares a purpose.
Conclusion
By defining ourselves by our Souls and not by our physical state, we have discovered the unifying factor with our fellow Jews, fellow man and all of G-d's creations. Knowing this, we can then act towards others with this perspective even before we create our internal feelings.
Please enjoy the video below of Rabbi Mendel Matusof discussing "True Jewish Love."
