Kedoshim - Is Ahavas Yisroel the Entire Torah?

00:00 At a farbrengen on the seventh day of Pesach, [unclear], the Frierdiker Rebbe told a remarkable story about the Rebbe Maharash and his son, the Rebbe Rashab, of blessed memory. He had heard it from his father, the Rebbe Rashab, who told him that his father, the Rebbe Maharash—whose yahrtzeit, 2 Iyar, falls this week—once said he wanted to tell him about two Jews who had come to him for yechidus on the same day. One had brought him great pleasure, and the other had caused him great distress. Let’s tell what the difference was. What had brought the Rebbe Maharash such great pleasure in that yechidus? There was a chossid of the Rebbe Maharash, a simple chossid, who is mentioned several times in the Frierdiker Rebbe’s sichos. His name was Reb Eliyahu of Abele. Abele was a small town that later became a large city; in any event, it was a place in Russia by that name. Reb Eliyahu was one of the chassidim closely connected to the Rebbe Maharash. He was a simple man, but a devoted chossid who feared Heaven. The Rebbe Maharash told

01:35 his son, the Rebbe Rashab: “Reb Eliyahu of Abele came in to see me, and I asked him, ‘Reb Eliyahu, how are you?’ He said, ‘Boruch Hashem, everything is fine.’ ‘How is your business? How are things going with your livelihood?’ He said, ‘Thank G-d, boruch Hashem, everything is fine. I came to ask on behalf of Reb Yosef. There’s a Jew in our town named Yosef. And for this Yosef, nebach, everything he does goes wrong. Bad luck pursues him,’ as he put it. At the time, Yosef couldn’t find a livelihood, so the chassidim in the town got together and collected money to buy him a horse and wagon. Boruch Hashem, they made sure he had a horse and wagon so he could earn a living with them, driving people around town and so on. And what happened? One time a wheel broke; another time the axle, part of the wagon, broke; and another time the horse broke a leg. Every time, bad luck pursued him, and nothing worked out. I’m asking the Rebbe to give him a blessing, so he can succeed, get out of all this, and have success in life and in earning a living.’ That was why he had come. He handed over a note and asked for

02:57 a blessing. The Rebbe Maharash heard him, gave him a blessing, and said, ‘You are a great chossid, Reb Eliyahu of Abele. You can help him a great deal. Why? When a Jew is in distress and another Jew makes a request on his behalf, that very request removes all accusations against him and breaks all the harsh judgments. That itself brings him every blessing.’ Then the Rebbe Maharash took a coin, gave it to Reb Eliyahu of Abele, and said, ‘Reb Eliyahu, I want to be your partner.’ He blessed him that Hakadosh Boruch Hu should help him always be able to do a favor for a Jew, and to do so successfully. This was the chossid who came to the Rebbe Maharash—and brought him great pleasure. When the Rebbe Maharash told the story to his son, the Rebbe Rashab, he added: ‘If I had given free rein to my feelings, I would have kissed him.’ That is how deeply the Rebbe Maharash was moved, and how much he loved this chossid, who had shown such Ahavas Yisroel. He came in for yechidus, with a great opportunity to ask for anything he wanted concerning his own affairs, yet he did not think of himself at all. The only thing on his mind was that other Jew, [unclear]

04:31 that the Rebbe should bless him with success. This awakened the greatest love in the Rebbe, and gave him the greatest pleasure in this chossid’s Ahavas Yisroel. In Parshas Kedoshim, in today’s portion, we find the well-known verse, “Love your fellow as yourself; I am Hashem,” the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel. When we speak about Ahavas Yisroel, and about one of the central points that Chassidus reveals in its deeper meaning, we also find two teachings of our Sages. The first is the well-known teaching of Rabbi Akiva: “‘Love your fellow as yourself’—this is a great principle of the Torah.” The second is the story the Gemara in Shabbos tells about Hillel. A prospective convert came to Hillel and wanted to convert: “Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot”—the entire Torah on one foot. Before that, he had gone to Shammai. The Gemara says that Shammai took a builder’s measuring rod and pushed him away with it. He went to Hillel, and Hillel told him: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” That is what he said. And these are

06:05 two teachings of our Sages. “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow”—what you dislike, what you do not want others to do to you, do not do to your fellow. “This is the entire Torah”—the whole Torah is summed up in this. “The rest is its explanation”—all the rest of the Torah is, in a sense, an explanation of Ahavas Yisroel. Both of these teachings of our Sages are readily understood—what Rabbi Akiva says and what Hillel says. On the face of it, they make the same point: Ahavas Yisroel is the entire Torah. But Rabbi Akiva says, “This is a great principle of the Torah,” while Hillel says, “This is the entire Torah.” There are differences between them. So before we discuss the details, let’s first speak generally about the difference between these two teachings in their plain meaning. Then we’ll go a little deeper into the inner meaning of these matters. We’ll understand these stories and teachings in particular, and Hillel’s story more deeply, through Chassidus, which reveals the depth of Ahavas Yisroel in a rich and closely connected way. The difference between the two teachings is apparent in their wording: Rabbi Akiva says, “This is a great principle of the Torah,” and Hillel says, “This is the entire Torah.” In other words, Rabbi Akiva does not say it is the entire Torah. He says it is a great principle of the Torah. He does not say it is all of the Torah. He says it is

07:41 a great principle of the Torah, and that is straightforward. The Torah contains many matters, different positive and negative mitzvos, many different subjects. Ahavas Yisroel, “Love your fellow as yourself,” is not an isolated matter, not an individual mitzvah, but a mitzvah that encompasses many matters in the Torah: “a great principle.” A principle includes many details, and many matters in the Torah are connected to “Love your fellow as yourself.” Simply put, even when we look at the weekly parsha, Parshas Kedoshim, we see a parsha with many mitzvos, one of the parshiyos on which most of the Torah’s fundamental teachings depend. It contains many subjects. Looking through the parsha, we see that for a very large number of the things the Torah says, their root, their reason, the [unclear], and the way they are fulfilled are plainly connected to the trait of “Love your fellow as yourself.” The mitzvah of [unclear], the mitzvah of “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge,” the mitzvah of [unclear], and so on. Many mitzvos are plainly connected to this idea of “a great principle of the Torah.” But in the plain sense, it is not “the entire Torah.” That is why Rashi, in his commentary on the Chumash, chooses this explanation. When we look at Rashi on the weekly parsha, we see that he quotes

09:13 Rabbi Akiva. Because here, in the plain meaning of the verse, what Hillel says is simply not the explanation. Rashi wants to indicate: Why does the Torah say “Love your fellow as yourself” here? What is the Torah telling us? What does it mean here? What is the command? What is the point? And also, how is it possible—apparently, Rashi is addressing a question. Rashi does not just quote a beautiful teaching of our Sages, because, as we know, Rashi explains the plain meaning of the verse. There is a question troubling the child. Something bothers him, something he does not understand, and Rashi explains it to him. What does Rashi want to explain here to the child learning Chumash? A person might ask himself: How can one do such a thing—love every Jew “as yourself”? How can I love “your fellow as yourself”? A person loves himself, after all; that is part of his nature. By nature, a person loves himself, and he loves his children, his household, his family. But to love every Jew, “your fellow,” without exception, “as yourself”—how is that possible [unclear]? What does it mean? Rashi says that it means “This is a great principle of the Torah.” This is not some new matter demanding that a person attain a lofty level. In the plain meaning of the verse, this is not about something requiring an especially lofty level, something exceptional. Rather, it is

10:35 He states the great principle of the Torah: There is a whole range of things the Torah asks of you. You learn the parsha and see that it contains a series of mitzvos, all the mitzvos between one person and another. The Torah comes and says: Know that “Love your fellow as yourself” is “a great principle of the Torah.” It is the principle underlying all these details. How do you put it into practice? Through the details. You must be careful, for example, about “Do not take revenge and do not bear a grudge”: do not take revenge on another person, do not hold a grudge against him, do not speak lashon hara, “Do not stand idly by your fellow’s blood,” “You shall surely rebuke your fellow,” and so on. These are the details, and you must observe them. For the Torah states the great principle here: all these things flow from “Love your fellow”—from your love for him—and consequently you treat him properly. But that is [unclear]; that is what the Torah asks of you. Because you love him, you treat him the right way. That is why you do not take revenge on him, why you do not speak lashon hara, and so on—all the laws stated in the parsha. That is what Rashi is saying here, because it is the straightforward meaning of Rabbi Akiva’s words. But the Rebbe discussed how, while that is certainly true, Rashi added another point. It explains why Rashi specifies the name “Rabbi Akiva said.” After all, everyone knows this saying of our Sages, and yet Rashi does not normally give the name of the person who—

11:56 It is not relevant. Rashi does not always identify the Tanna who says something. Rashi brings many explanations from various teachings of our Sages and from the Rishonim, but he generally does not give a name. So if Rashi does give a name here, there must be a reason to identify this Tanna. Why does Rashi emphasize that Rabbi Akiva is the one who says this? The answer is very simple. Rabbi Akiva, as we said, is the one who says in Pirkei Avos: “Rabbi Akiva says: Beloved are the Jewish people”; “Beloved are the Jewish people, for they are called children of Hashem”; “Beloved are the Jewish people, for they were given a precious vessel.” That well-known mishnah in Pirkei Avos, chapter four—no, chapter three—“Beloved are the Jewish people.” That is Rabbi Akiva. What is the point? Rabbi Akiva is the one who spoke in praise of the Jewish people. Rabbi Akiva says, “Beloved are the Jewish people.” Yes, he emphasizes how beloved a Jew is; he says that Jews are children of Hashem, and it follows that you must not harm your fellow. Since all Jews are children of Hashem, we are all children of the same Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He is our Father and we are His children; we are all brothers, and therefore you must not harm your fellow. That is Rabbi Akiva. Then Hillel comes and says something more. Hillel says something Rabbi Akiva did not say. Hillel says, “This is the entire Torah.” It is not merely a great principle of the Torah; it is the entire Torah. A great principle of the Torah is not everything—it is a great principle. Of course, as we also say, Ahavas Yisroel is a great principle, but Hillel says it is the entire Torah. At first glance, the issue is easy to understand: Rabbi Akiva is right. There are many mitzvos that are not connected to Ahavas Yisroel. How many mitzvos relate to our being children of Hashem? After all, there are many mitzvos, even in this very parsha—

14:05 The mitzvos of shatnez and kilayim. What do those have to do with Ahavas Yisroel? And so on. There are many mitzvos, such as pigul, that seemingly have no connection to Ahavas Yisroel. “It is a great principle of the Torah”—yes. But Hillel said something different. Hillel comes and says, “This is the entire Torah.” We need to understand what Hillel means, what he is saying here. And this is the question everyone asks: How can it be understood, in the straightforward sense, that this is the entire Torah? Even Rashi in the Gemara there, I think in Tractate Shabbos, [unclear]. Rashi says that on the one hand, “the entire Torah” means the entire Torah—just what the words say. On the other hand, he explains there that “your fellow” refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. For “your fellow,” he cites the verse “Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend”—referring to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So you must not do wrong to your fellow, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the straightforward explanation. Rashi says this, of course, but we need to understand it more deeply, so to speak. What is the deeper meaning of Hillel’s words? What new point is Hillel making? Because that is how it appears from the context. But Rashi in his commentary on Chumash does not quote Hillel’s saying; he specifically quotes Rabbi Akiva’s, because the plain meaning of the verse fits Rabbi Akiva’s saying. Hillel’s saying makes for a fine midrash, but it is not understandable according to the plain meaning of the verse. How can you say that Ahavas Yisroel is the entire Torah? We need to understand what Hillel said. Let us turn to the story about Hillel; it is very interesting, and there are several things to understand. A non-Jew comes and wants to convert. What is he after? First of all, what does this non-Jew want? He comes and says, “Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot.” What does he want? What does it mean to teach him the entire Torah on one foot? Why? On the face of it, it is as if he is standing—

16:10 On one foot and saying: Tell me the entire Torah. I do not have time to listen to anything long. That is what some people say nowadays: people are rushing, they have no time, but they want to learn. Tell me something in a few minutes; I cannot listen to you any longer than that. Tell me something short, and with that I will be a good convert. So what is this, really? Is it madness? What is going on? Hillel said: No, it is possible to convert a person this way. What happened here? What does it mean? Of course, the Gemara contains layer upon layer of depth here. What did the non-Jew mean by asking, “Convert me on condition that you teach me the entire Torah on one foot”? And then Shammai “pushed him away with a builder’s measuring rod.” What is hinted at by “pushed him away with a builder’s measuring rod”? On the face of it, we could say that Shammai was at a construction site. The Gemara says that he was engaged in building, and he had a rod called a “builder’s measuring rod,” a rod used to measure buildings, to check their size and dimensions. What is a “builder’s measuring rod”? He had a rod and used it to push the man away. But clearly, there must be something deeper here. Then comes Hillel’s answer. Hillel says, “What is hateful to you—

17:35 Do not do to your fellow; this is the entire Torah.” We need to understand Hillel’s answer. There are several explanations of this teaching of our Sages. Today I want to discuss just one point, an explanation similar to one given by the holy Berditchever in Kedushas Levi. It also fits very well with the Alter Rebbe’s explanation in Tanya, chapter 32; the two complement each other. Afterward, if there is time, we will also discuss the Tzemach Tzedek’s words on this subject. There is also an explanation by [unclear], a beautiful explanation of this story in the Gemara, but there is not enough time for all the explanations. In any case, we will discuss one of them. The Kli Yakar also gives a similar explanation. In his commentary on Chumash, in one of the parshas, he explains this teaching of our Sages in the same way. Another point relevant to the explanation we will give, rather than a different explanation of the Oral Torah: he says the same thing. He says that when the prospective convert asked for “one foot,” he meant that he wanted to find one central point, one foundation—“one foot.” The Torah contains many different matters; a person has so many things to deal with that he gets lost.

19:10 So many details, details, details—give me one central point. What is that point? What is the foundation? I will give a simple example. The Gemara in Makkos says, “Chavakuk established them all on one principle: ‘The righteous person shall live by his faith.’” Jews have so many mitzvos, so many different details: 613 mitzvos with all their branches and subdivisions. Chavakuk comes and says there is one foundation: “He established them all on one principle.” What does that mean? Did Chavakuk say that we do not need to observe the other mitzvos? G-d forbid. “He established them” means that Chavakuk said: Take faith, and faith will lead you to all the mitzvos. Faith is what supports them; it is the foundation on which everything stands. If you stand on the foundation of “shall live by his faith,” it will lead you to all 613 mitzvos, each with its own particulars. The same idea applies here. The non-Jew came and said: There are so many details, and I am getting lost. What is the foundation of Judaism? “The entire Torah on one foot”—one foundation on which all of Judaism stands. And Shammai “pushed him away with a builder’s measuring rod”: this means that Shammai told him you cannot set all of Judaism on just one foundation. There are several foundations. Judaism is made up of several foundations. Even the Rambam’s Thirteen Principles of Faith are not a single foundation. You cannot encompass all 613 mitzvos in just one foundation; there have to be many different particulars.

20:43 In a building. That, too, is one of the things we need to learn from this approach. Let me give an example, by way of a kal vachomer. The prospective convert’s condition was that he wanted to know the foundation of the entire Torah and all the mitzvos. And Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s measuring rod in his hand. How do we understand the expression “the builder’s measuring rod”? After all, he did not take a stick and strike him. The point of the “builder’s measuring rod” is, quite literally, building. A building has foundations. When you build a building, you know that a building is not just a wall; it needs strong foundations. Without a foundation, the building will not stand. In the same way, Yiddishkeit needs foundations. That was Shammai’s point. Then he went to Hillel, and Hillel told him: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the entire Torah.” Hillel gave him a foundation. But how can that be the foundation of everything? When a Jew knows “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow,” what will happen? He will not hurt another person. Yes, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow”: what you do not like being done to you, do not do to someone else. But the Torah is not only about that. There are positive mitzvos and prohibitions. How does everything fit into this foundation? And here we enter the depth of Chassidus. As the Rebbe says: Seemingly, this is a mitzvah between one person and another; what does it have to do with mitzvos between a person and Hashem? The foundation is Hashem’s oneness: “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” The foundation is that Hashem is One.

22:42 There is one King, and therefore one Torah, and all of Yiddishkeit is one thing. When the prospective convert came, this was his question: He came “on one foot” and wanted to understand how everything in Yiddishkeit is included in that oneness, in the oneness of Hashem. But the mitzvos are different matters: positive mitzvos are one category, prohibitions another, and mitzvos between one person and another another. How do we see Hashem’s oneness in all of them? He wants to connect to that One. The prospective convert was a non-Jew who wanted to become a Jew. Why? Because he saw the Jews, a people striving toward Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He wants to connect to that One. But when he looks at the many mitzvos, he sees that he has to deal with people—with friends, with the elderly, with the poor, with everyone. He asks: How is this one thing? That was his argument. And Shammai pushed him away with the builder’s measuring rod in his hand. What does “the builder’s measuring rod” mean? Shammai was telling him that you cannot build on just one foundation. For the world to be a building, an enduring structure, for the world to function properly, it needs the mitzvos between one person and another. There must be tzedakah; people must act with goodness and kindness, with acts of kindness, and with all these things

24:45 that the Torah speaks about in matters between one person and another. Otherwise, there is no building. That was Shammai’s argument, and that is why he pushed him away with the builder’s measuring rod. Then came Hillel. Hillel told him: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the entire Torah.” Hillel helped him understand it a little more deeply. Hillel told him: “No, you are looking for the Creator. Know that ‘What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow’ is the very same idea as the entire Torah.” It is the same thing: When you do a kindness for a Jew, you do a kindness for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. For a Jew is a child of Hashem; a Jew is a creation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Yes, that is true of every created being: everything in the world comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And especially the Jewish people, for every Jew is truly a part of G-d Above. So the mitzvos between one person and another are part of the whole matter of G-dliness. A well-known story about the Alter Rebbe appears in the sichos, and it is also recounted briefly in Hayom Yom. A group of chassidim in the Alter Rebbe’s time were sitting together at a farbrengen and saying l’chaim. One of the chassidim stood up and said: “L’chaim! May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us find delight in loving Hashem, in loving Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” The Mitteler Rebbe stood up. The Mitteler Rebbe was then a young man, a young fellow. The Mitteler Rebbe

26:21 said: “May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us find pleasure in Ahavas Yisroel.” A whole discussion developed at the farbrengen: Which is primary, love of Hashem or Ahavas Yisroel? The first chossid had wished that they would find pleasure in loving Hashem, and the Mitteler Rebbe had wished that they would find pleasure in Ahavas Yisroel. A whole debate developed, until they decided to ask the Alter Rebbe himself. They asked the Alter Rebbe, and the Alter Rebbe said, as recorded in Hayom Yom for Nissan, that both—the love of Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel—are engraved in the soul of every Jew. Yes, love of Hashem and Ahavas Yisroel are engraved in a Jew. But since the Torah proclaims, “I have loved you, says Hashem”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “I love every Jew”—when you love a Jew, you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “One who loves, loves what the beloved loves”: You love what your beloved loves. When you fulfill the mitzvah of loving Hashem, you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu. When you fulfill Ahavas Yisroel, you love not only the Jew, but also the One who loves him, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why Ahavas Yisroel is greater. So, in essence, it is one point: “One who loves, loves what the beloved loves.” When that is...

27:52 Hillel helped the non-Jew understand that this is really one foot. The Torah stands on one thing, on one foot, because Ahavas Yisroel is part of how we love Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And here the Alter Rebbe comes in, in chapter 32 of Tanya. As is well known, chapter 32 is the heart of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe places this point in the middle of Tanya, in chapter 32. As is well known among chassidim, chapter 32 does not belong to what comes before it or after it; it is a subject in its own right. He places it at the heart, because it is the heart of Jews, the heart of a chossid. The Alter Rebbe says, and there he cites Hillel’s statement. The Alter Rebbe, too, wants to understand why we say, “That is the entire Torah.” Why do we say that Ahavas Yisroel is the entire Torah? The Alter Rebbe explains this through two points connected to what we said earlier. The Alter Rebbe asks: Why is Ahavas Yisroel the foundation of the entire Torah? Hillel’s words, “That is the entire Torah,” contain two ideas. First, because the purpose of the entire Torah is also to free the soul. All of Yiddishkeit and all the matters of Torah and mitzvos are meant to enable a Jew to let his soul shine, elevate the soul above the body, reveal spiritual qualities above the material, reveal the soul that is truly a part of G-d Above, bring that into his faculties, and connect to G-dliness through every mitzvah. To begin with, all the mitzvos, including a mitzvah between one person and another, have a deeper dimension: The point is also to elevate the soul above the body. And what elevates the soul above the body? Specifically Ahavas Yisroel. Why? The Alter Rebbe says:

29:42 Because Ahavas Yisroel means that the soul is primary and the body is secondary. As long as my body is what matters most to me—my body, my material needs, my concerns, my needs, my money, my honor, my livelihood, my family, my affairs, my personal affairs—as long as a person is immersed in the body and its concerns, the body is separate. My body and his body belong to two different people. And here the question we discussed earlier comes up: How is it possible for me to love you? How can I love another Jew? We are two different people. My family matters more to me than someone else. But when the soul is primary, that is exactly what Ahavas Yisroel is about. For from the perspective of the soul, as we said earlier, we are truly brothers. Each of us is truly a part of G-d Above. And this is really the point the Rebbe explains: This is the entire Torah. For Ahavas Yisroel is the foundation that brings all matters of Torah into this connection, through which a person connects with his soul, with the part of G-d Above. The Rebbe then explains the second point. The foundation of Torah and mitzvos is to reveal the soul. But what is the ultimate purpose of Torah and mitzvos? The ultimate purpose of Torah and mitzvos, as the Rebbe explains in chapters 46 and 47, is to make a dwelling for Hashem in the lower realms; to reveal G-dliness in the world, to unite Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His Shechinah. It is to bring G-dliness down here, into the souls of the Jewish people, into the community of Israel, and through them into the entire world, so that there will be a dwelling for Him. And bringing G-dliness down here, into the world and into the souls, is possible only through Ahavas Yisroel, as it says: “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one.” When Jews stand together, that brings the Shechinah into the world.

31:37 And in truth, Ahavas Yisroel is the part of this that brings Hashem’s oneness into actual expression down here. This also helps us understand the question the Tzemach Tzedek raises—and the question the Rebbe raises—about the story of Hillel. Again: the non-Jew came and asked to be taught the entire Torah while standing on one foot. How can the entire Torah be contained in one thing? Because the entire Torah rests on one foot, on one central point. [unclear] What is the entire Torah? “This is the whole Torah”—the principle of “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” The entire Torah rests on Ahavas Yisroel: both because it reveals that the soul, rather than the body, is what matters most, and because through Ahavas Yisroel we can draw Hashem’s oneness down into this world. So it is all one foot, one matter, one point, one essence. To conclude with what the Tzemach Tzedek says in Derech Mitzvosecha, in the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel: What does “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow” mean? We can ask a simple question: Why did Hillel phrase it in the negative? Why didn’t he state it positively, as “Love your fellow as yourself”? The Maharsha asks this question. The Maharsha explains that since the main aspect of Ahavas Yisroel is [unclear].

33:26 It is expressed in the negative: not to speak lashon hara, not to take revenge, and not to bear a grudge. All these verses, all these matters—most of the things the Torah speaks about here—are specifically phrased in the negative. [unclear] That is the Maharsha’s explanation. But the Tzemach Tzedek explains something else in Derech Mitzvosecha, in the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel. He makes a powerful point: This is human nature. A person knows his own shortcomings. He knows what is wrong with him. But what does he do? He covers it all up. “Love covers all transgressions.” He knows he has flaws, he knows he is not as he should be, and he knows there are things he needs to work on—but he lives with them. His self-love—“love covers all transgressions”—covers all those undesirable things. But the moment someone else points out my shortcomings, when someone comes and says to me, “Ah, I see—you know what? I can see that you have this or that flaw,” I completely lose it. I cannot bear it. I knew about it; I know I have that flaw. But I can live with myself in peace. The moment someone else says it out loud, it breaks me. It hurts. Hillel comes and says, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” That is how the Tzemach Tzedek explains it. And this is the negative formulation of

34:52 the teaching: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” What you hate for someone else to do to you—expose the bad in you—“do not do” to him. The Tzemach Tzedek says the meaning is this: When a person loves himself, “love covers all transgressions”; he sees only good in himself and judges himself favorably. And he cannot bear it when someone else sees his undesirable qualities. We need to have that same approach toward another Jew. Out of love for him simply because he is a Jew, our love covers all those undesirable things from the outset. We do not see them—“love covers all transgressions.” True Ahavas Yisroel does not let us see the shortcomings of any Jew. [unclear] A person sees no sin in him at all; he sees only good in the other person, with kindness and love. So he judges him favorably, speaks only well of him, and always tries to help him and do him a favor, with genuine eagerness and vitality. This is the lesson we take from our series on “Love your fellow as yourself”: that it is the whole Torah and a great principle of the Torah. And at this time, during Sefiras HaOmer, especially in light of what the Gemara [unclear], this is the time to correct the failing of “not treating one another with respect.”

36:15 The whole matter of Ahavas Yisroel was connected to the story of Rabbi Akiva’s students—the entire cause was that “they did not treat one another with respect.” By correcting this, by truly treating one another with respect and feeling greater affection for another Jew, we will break through all concealment. Then this period, which is associated with judgments, will instead end well and truly become a time of Geulah. And through our work in Ahavas Yisroel—for, as the Gemara says, it was because of baseless hatred, G-d forbid, that we have had this long exile—and by correcting it through baseless love, the Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt, and the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu will come speedily in our days.