Chapter 32

We've reached the heart of Tania! In Hebrew, heart is said lev. Each letter in Hebrew corresponds to a number. The letters of the word lev They add up to thirty-two, which is the number of this chapter. So, this chapter is the heart of Tania, and it talks about a Mitzvah Very important: Love of neighbor.

Once we understood (in the previous chapter) that the Divine Soul, not the body, is paramount, we can love our neighbors as ourselves. But how can we love others as ourselves? It is natural to love oneself, but it is not natural to love others.

The Alter Rebbe explains that all people are different: height, hair color, eye color, skin color, even thoughts, but that is only the body and the animal soul. Jews also have a divine soul, and the spiritual root of that soul is the same in everyone. Torah He calls the Jewish people the children of Hashem¹, In other words, we all have the same Father.

The Alter Rebbe quotes a story from our sages² To understand this idea: once, a person asked Hillel, a great sage, to explain everything to him. Torah standing on one leg. To which Hillel replied, standing on one leg: Love your neighbor as yourself, that is the whole truth. Torah, The rest is an explanation, go study.

What Hillel meant was that, just as the goal of the Torah It is to elevate the soul above the body, as we studied in the previous chapter, to make the soul primary and the body secondary; in the same way, an easy way in which we can fulfill the Mitzvah Love of neighbor means focusing on the other person's soul, not their body. And, if we all have the same soul, we are all one; when we love another, it is as if we were loving ourselves.

Another key point the Alter Rebbe mentions is that a fundamental part of our mission as a Jewish people on earth is to bring to Hashem to the earth, to reveal His presence, that is, for everyone to feel that Hashem It is in this world. And that is achieved only when we Jews are united through this Mitzvah so special.

Why? Here's an example. It's like a father taking his children for a walk, and the kids are fighting with each other the whole time: the father doesn't want to be there, he doesn't want to be with his children, and he might even go home because he's so annoyed and angry. But if it's the other way around, if the children are happy, they share games and fun, they play together and listen to their father, the father will want to be with them, he'll be happy, and he'll give the children gifts and treats.

Similarly, when there is unity among Jews, when we respect and love one another, when we listen to our Father who is in heaven, Hashem, He wants to be with us, and that's why we bring him to earth.

But there's a problem with all this. Our wise men³ They say there are certain people you should hate. Like, for example, someone who doesn't follow the rules. Mitzvot, How is this understood according to what has been explained?

The Alter Rebbe explains that this idea refers to another Jew whom we know well, who is on the same spiritual level as us, and whom we warn that he is behaving badly and he didn't pay attention…

But how can we hate someone we don't know? Quite the opposite! We should bring them closer to us. Torah, to teach him, to show him the beauty of being Jewish and fulfilling the Mitzvot, And perhaps, with much love and patience, the person will approach Hashem…

Even so, in cases where our sages say that hatred is necessary, only the negative aspect of that person is hateful; their soul, however, must be loved. Moreover, not only loved, but also shown mercy (for example, by reciting a chapter of psalms for their spiritual improvement), and in this way, even the hatred toward their negative aspect is calmed, and the love for their soul, which is in exile within their body and animal soul, becomes stronger. Furthermore, awakening love for their positive aspect in the heart makes it so that Hashem help him free his Divine Soul from its exile.