The Secret of Torah out of Love: Why Must Learning Lead to Ahavat Yisrael?
Lesson No. 90 | *Tuesday, Parashat Bechukotai, 20 Iyar 5757 *Old Lesson*
True Torah study is measured by the love it generates toward others. The article explains through the story of Rabbi Elazar of Birta and the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, how the aspiration of a true servant of Hashem is for everyone to succeed, and why every Jew is a letter in the holy Torah.
The Gemara tells of Rabbi Elazar of Birta, that whenever the charity collectors would see him, they would hide from him, because they knew he would give them everything he had. Once, Rabbi Elazar went to buy a dowry for his daughter. When the charity collectors saw him, they immediately ran away from him. What did Rabbi Elazar do? He chased after them and asked them: "What are you engaged in?" They said to him: "We are collecting money for the wedding of an orphan boy and an orphan girl." He said to them: "If so, an orphan boy and an orphan girl take precedence over my daughter!" He gave them all the money he had, and was left with only one zuz.
With that zuz he bought a little wheat, brought it home, and threw it into the storehouse. When the daughter asked her mother what her father had brought, the mother answered: "He put something in the storehouse, who knows what he already did with the money, he probably scattered it all to charity. Go and look at what he brought." The daughter went and tried to open the storehouse door, but could not. The storehouse had filled with wheat to the brim, to the point that it was impossible to open the door because of all the wheat!
She ran to the Beit Midrash and said to her father: "Father, look what a miracle Hashem did for you!" After all, she knew that he had brought something small, and not treasures of wheat that require trucks. Rabbi Elazar answered her: "Know that this wheat is holy, and you have no more share in it than any poor person. We will divide it among all the brides, all the orphans, and all the poor, and you will have an equal share together with everyone else."
Torah from the Sitra Achra vs. Torah of Love
A person who truly learns Torah needs to be in the aspect of Yaakov Avinu. This is also the essence of Purim, as Rabbi Natan of Breslov says on the verse:
"And sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor"
True joy is not selfishness – "I am enjoying, I am the happy one, I am the tzaddik who is dancing." The joy stems from the illumination of Mordechai and Esther, which is the illumination of the true tzaddik. This is the secret of "Kiyemu v'Kiblu" (they confirmed and accepted) – accepting the Torah out of love.
The moment a person learns Torah out of love, he receives love for each and every one. The author of the "Toldot Yaakov Yosef" writes in Shaar HaMiddot that the foundation of the Torah is between man and his fellow. If a person learns Torah, and immediately afterward speaks lashon hara about his friend – this Torah was not Torah at all, but rather Torah from the Sitra Achra.
He brings in the name of the holy Baal Shem Tov an explanation on the statement of the Gemara:
"He who reviews his chapter one hundred times is not comparable to he who reviews his chapter one hundred and one times"
The Baal Shem Tov asks: What does it matter to me if it is one hundred or one hundred and one? What is the difference? Rather, "one hundred and one" means that he learns one hundred times, but the one additional time is for the "One" – for Hashem. The purpose of the learning is so that he will be able to pray with intention, and the main thing – that from this learning he will be able to love his friend.
The Aspect of Yaakov: Wanting Everyone to be the Best
There is a person who learns Torah, but does not care about his friend at all. He only cares about himself: how he will be the genius, how he will rise above everyone, how he will surpass everyone and be the best in the yeshiva and in the world. He wants to be the best – and for the other not to be.
In contrast, there is a person who wants to be the best, but he wants everyone else to be the best too! He fulfills "V'shinantam l'vanecha" (And you shall teach them diligently to your children) – that words of Torah should be sharp in your mouth, but he aspires that everyone should know the Gemara the best, that everyone should know the Torah, that everyone should be the greatest tzaddikim.
This is the difference between the aspect of Yaakov and the aspect of Lavan. Yaakov takes the stones and unites them into one stone. As is brought in "Shivchei HaRan", we know when a person is truly serving Hashem – when he wants everyone to be servants of Hashem, that everyone should pray, wake up for Chatzot, do hitbodedut, and learn Gemara better than anyone else.
Baseless Love Builds Jerusalem
This is the secret of sending portions one to another. Haman the wicked said: "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed." When Haman saw that everyone was only thinking about himself and his own pleasure, he knew that this was the beginning of assimilation and downfall. He said to all the nations: "We will certainly defeat the Jews, because they are a scattered and dispersed people."
In contrast, Queen Esther said: "Go, gather together all the Jews." The entire strength of the people of Israel lies in the fact that everyone loves one another. Everyone must start with this love, and not wait for their friend to start. Even if my friend hates me – I love him.
It is written in the holy books that Jerusalem was destroyed because of baseless hatred, and therefore it will only be rebuilt through baseless love. A person must love his friend with a true love, looking for ways to help him, how to bring him joy, and how to bestow upon him all good things.
Every Jew is a Letter in the Torah
The main thing is that after a person learns the holy Gemara, he receives through it love for his friend. He thinks about who to help and who to care for – for all of the people of Israel! The Gemara instills in him yearning and longing for each and every Jew.
Every letter in the Torah is the soul of a Jew, it is the neshamah of a Jew. Rabbeinu says that if a person thinks a bad thought about someone for even one moment, he immediately loses all love for the Torah and cannot learn. Because the essence of the Torah is that a person loves each and every one, since every Jew is a letter in the holy Torah.
Part 3 of 4 — Lesson No. 90