Tanya Chapter 32 - Part 5

00:01 Speaker 1 Chapter 32. We’re holding at the bottom of page 41. Up to this point, the Alter Rebbe has explained the whole subject of Ahavas Yisroel: how it is possible to “love your fellow as yourself,” with a genuine love, truly as yourself, for every Jew, great or small. That was the first part of the chapter. And here the Alter Rebbe raises a question, through which we’ll also gain some very important principles about how to fulfill the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel. After explaining how there can be love for every Jew, no matter who, with its full force—an essential love, truly as yourself—the Alter Rebbe explained that this love is connected to the soul, to a person’s essence, to their true being, the root of the soul. From that standpoint, there is genuine love for every Jew, truly as yourself. So now the Alter Rebbe asks: How does this fit with Ahavas Yisroel according to halachah? Because when we look at Ahavas Yisroel in halachah, we find certain limitations. According to halachah, Ahavas Yisroel does not always appear to apply in the way we’ve understood it from Tanya so far. There seems to be a contradiction: How does the Alter Rebbe’s explanation here fit with the limitations on fulfilling the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel? What limitations are we talking about? The Alter Rebbe quotes: “And as it is written in the Gemara, one who sees his fellow sinning is commanded to hate him.” In the Gemara in Bava Metzia, the Gemara discusses the law of “If you see the donkey of someone you hate.” All the bochurim have learned that Gemara; they know it. It’s discussing the mitzvah of unloading an animal.

02:14 Speaker 1 What’s it called? If you see the donkey of someone you hate collapsing under its load, there is a mitzvah of “you shall surely help him”—to get the animal up, to lift the load. And it says there that the mitzvah takes precedence when the person is someone you hate: “If you see the donkey of someone you hate.” If this happens to someone you hate, the law is that you should help that person specifically, in order to subdue your inclination. You have to help the person you hate before helping someone else whom you don’t hate. So the Gemara asks: Someone you hate? How can a Jew hate someone else? What does it mean that the mitzvah takes precedence with someone you hate—that the Torah makes room for hatred? After all, “You shall not hate your brother in your heart.” It is forbidden to hate another Jew. How can there be such a category as someone you hate? So the Gemara says that this category does exist in halachah. In other words, there are circumstances in which, even according to the Torah, it is a mitzvah to hate. That is the hatred being discussed when we say that, nevertheless, one must fulfill “you shall surely help him.” What kind of hatred is a mitzvah according to halachah? This is what the Alter Rebbe quotes now: “One who sees his fellow sinning.” If a person sees his fellow commit a sin, he is commanded to hate him. And not only must he himself hate him, but he must also “tell his teacher to hate him.” He has to go to their teacher and tell him that his fellow student committed this sin, so that the teacher will hate him too. If so, you can see that this explicit halachah does not fit with what we’ve learned so far. According to what we’ve learned, love for every Jew transcends their conduct.

04:22 Speaker 1 It doesn’t depend on how he behaves. You love every Jew because of his essence. And if you love him because of his essence, he can even be a completely wicked person, as we discussed in previous classes. You love a completely wicked person just as you love a completely righteous person, because in terms of essential love, every Jew has a soul that is a part of G-d above. But here we’re told no: if a person commits a transgression, not only are you obligated to hate him, you must also tell his teacher so that the teacher will hate him. How do we understand that? The Alter Rebbe gives an explanation here. This explanation has several parts. We’ll learn the beginning. It isn’t the whole answer, just part of the explanation; later in the chapter, we’ll see that the Alter Rebbe adds another point. The explanation distinguishes between several levels and types of people. First, the Alter Rebbe establishes a basic principle: the halachah that there are times when it is a mitzvah to hate someone who commits a transgression, and even to tell his teacher to hate him, applies to a very, very limited case. It isn’t so simple. It applies only under very specific conditions. So first the Alter Rebbe tells us what those conditions are. What is the case there? “His fellow in Torah and mitzvos.” We’re talking about someone who is your fellow in Torah and mitzvos. In other words, the wording “one who sees his fellow sinning” is precise—not just any Jew. The Gemara does not say that if you see a Jew sinning, you have to hate him. Heaven forbid! That would be a very serious mistake. The Gemara says “his fellow.” That’s the first condition. What defines someone as your fellow? A person on the same level as you in Torah and mitzvos. He is your fellow in his level of Torah and mitzvos,

06:21 Speaker 1 in his conduct. That’s the first condition. In a moment we’ll explain why all these conditions are needed. Yes. In a moment; we’re just beginning the subject. For now I’m reading what it says. You have a question? We’ll see in a moment. So what does the Alter Rebbe say first? The first condition is that he must be your fellow in Torah and mitzvos. The second, the Alter Rebbe says, is: “And he has already fulfilled toward him the mitzvah of ‘You shall surely rebuke your fellow.’” The second condition is not only that he is your fellow, but that you have already tried rebuking him. You don’t begin to hate a person the moment he commits a transgression. Even if he is your fellow in Torah and mitzvos, you still don’t hate him because he sinned. On the contrary, you love him, and therefore you rebuke him. Rebuke has to come from genuine love. We know that “you shall surely rebuke” and “love your fellow as yourself” are written in the same verse. Yes, the Rebbe brings this in Hayom Yom—how does the verse go? “You shall surely rebuke.” “You shall surely rebuke.” “And you shall love your fellow as yourself.” How is it written there? “You shall surely rebuke your fellow.” “And you shall love your fellow as yourself,” “and you shall not bear sin because of him.” That’s the verse, something like that. Bring me a Chumash Vayikra for a moment; I’ll look inside. Hm? Is that how it’s written? And does “you shall love” come first, or “you shall surely rebuke”?

07:56 Speaker 2 “You shall surely rebuke.”

07:59 Speaker 1 “You shall surely rebuke.” That’s the source. I’m looking inside. Oh, oh, oh, you see? “You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow, and you shall not bear sin because of him.” That’s the verse. After that it says, “You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the members of your people, and you shall love your fellow as yourself; I am Hashem.” Those are two verses next to each other. Now, in Hayom Yom there is the well-known teaching. In Hayom Yom for 26 Iyar, the Rebbe brings that “You shall not hate your brother in your heart” is the prerequisite. First, you must not have any hatred before you come to rebuke someone. You cannot have hatred; there must be genuine love. The moment there is hatred, you cannot rebuke. Only then can there be “you shall surely rebuke your fellow.” In other words, rebuke must come from a place of genuine love. Otherwise, Hayom Yom says, the continuation applies: “And you shall not bear sin because of him.” If you didn’t do it that way, you are at fault, not he, because you did not rebuke him properly. So it follows that you must begin with great love for the person. That love leads you to rebuke him, and only after you have done that and it hasn’t helped—so you see, there are two conditions here. First, the person must be your fellow in Torah and mitzvos. Second, you have already tried the path of love and rebuke, and even after all that, it had no effect. Then the Alter Rebbe adds something else, a third condition. Regarding “you shall surely rebuke your fellow,” the Alter Rebbe writes, “who is with you in Torah and mitzvos.” What does “your fellow” mean here? There are different expressions: sometimes it says “your fellow,” and sometimes it says “your peer.” What exactly does “your peer” mean? Our Sages understand it as though it were two words: one who is with you. “Your peer” means someone who is with you, who is on the same level as you in Torah and mitzvos. In other words, even regarding the mitzvah of rebuke, it has to

10:25 Speaker 1 There is a condition: that this person be on your level in Torah and mitzvos. That is another new point. In other words, earlier we said that in order to hate someone who commits sins, he has to be your peer in Torah and mitzvos. That is the first thing. Now the Alter Rebbe says the same thing regarding the mitzvah of rebuke. When can I say that a rebuke is the kind that can accomplish something? Only when the person you are rebuking is on your level in Torah and mitzvos. If I see a Jew doing something wrong, I have to rebuke him. That is a mitzvah in its own right. Yes, but the mitzvah of rebuke does not necessarily mean that the rebuke will have its intended effect. And the reason it may not have that effect could be that the other person is not receptive to it. He is not at a level where the rebuke will affect him. There are many people who are not aware, who are not at the level or the stage where they understand that their sin has an effect. So even if you rebuke him and he does not listen to you, that still does not give you a reason to hate him, because he is not your peer in Torah and mitzvos. The rebuke is therefore not necessarily something that has to affect him. The fact that he was not moved by your rebuke may be, as I said, because he is at a different level, and so it does not reach him. It follows, then, that for there to be a mitzvah to hate a Jew—in what circumstances can one fulfill what the Gemara in Bava Metzia says, that there is a case where the Torah says one should hate him? Three things are needed. First, he has to be a person on your level, your peer in Torah and mitzvos. You need