Tomorrow, in synagogues across the globe, the famous verse, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” will be read aloud - a phrase perhaps more oftenly quoted than practiced. And in many cases for good reason. After all, how are we to love an ungrateful, evil natured, and otherwise ‘rotten’ individual? Is it truly possible to love every soul?
The same Torah that tells us to love also tells us to be disgusted and repulsed by certain acts. Isn’t that somewhat of a contradiction? Are we supposed to put on a façade, pretending to love, while inside we are full of hate and disgust? What is the secret to being able to love even ‘bad’ people?
In 1799 Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad, wrote a book called ‘Tanya’. Based upon the kabbalah, its stated aim is to show a path towards realizing one's purpose and to developing a deeper relationship with G‑d. The following is a quote from chapter 32 of ‘Tanya’:
“All Jews are called brothers, literally, due to the source of their souls in the One G‑d”.
Herein lies the answer: Our brother might do the wrong thing, he might even deserve serious punishment for his actions, but he is a brother nonetheless. On a soul level we, the Jewish People, are brothers and sisters. Yes, we do ‘bad things’ but we never become ‘bad people’. The Torah is extremely judgmental of one’s actions, never of the individual himself.
If we see the world on a ‘soul level’ there is no divisiveness. Through the eyeglasses and perspective of the soul, there is total harmony – we are all brothers.
Let us therefore nourish our soul, giving it the energy necessary to genuinely to see the inner good imbedded within each and every one of us. Let us make our home a kosher environment, one in which the soul will thrive and grow. Let us do a mitzvah today!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Raleigh Resnick