Daily Wisdom Portion of Kabbalah – 11th Tammuz, 5769

“Love thy friend as thyself.” Rabbi Akiva says this is a great rule in the Torah Collective and Individual

The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings – Two Parts to the Torah: Between Man and G-d and Between Man and Man

Even if we see that there are two parts to the Torah: The first – Mitzvot between man and G-d, and the second – Mitzvot between man and man, they are both one and the same thing. This means that the actual purpose of them and the desired goal are one, namely Lishma.

It makes no difference if one works for one’s friend or for the Creator. That is because it is carved in us by the nature of creation that anything that comes from the outside appears empty and unreal.

Because of that we are compelled to begin with Lo Lishma. Rambam says, “our sages said: ‘One should always study the Torah, and even Lo Lishma, because from Lo Lishma one comes to Lishma.’ Therefore when teaching the young, the women and the illiterate, they are taught to work out of fear and in order to be rewarded, until they accumulate knowledge and gain wisdom. Then they are told that secret little by little and they are accustomed to that matter with ease until they attain and know Him and serve Him with love.”

Thus, when one completes one’s work in love and bestowal for one’s fellow person and comes to the highest point, one also completes one’s love and bestowal for the Creator. In that state there is no difference between the two, for anything that is outside one’s body, meaning one’s self-interest is judged equally – either to bestow upon one’s friend or bestow contentment upon one’s Maker.

This is what Hillel Hanasi assumed, that “Love thy friend as thyself” is the ultimate goal in the practice. That is because it is the clearest form to mankind.

We should not be mistaken with deeds, for they are set before ones eyes. We know that if we precede the needs of our own, it is bestowal. For that reason Hillel does not define the goal as “And though shalt love the Lord thy G-d with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might,” because they are indeed one and the same thing. It is so because one should also love one’s friend with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, because that is the meaning of the words “as thyself.” After all one certainly loves oneself with all one’s heart and soul and might, but with regards to the Creator, one may deceive oneself; and with one’s friend it is always spread out before his eyes.

By Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag – Baal HaSulam, The Love for the Creator & Love for the Created Beings

Source: kabbalah.info