19:18 “לא תקם ולא תטר את בני עמך ואהבת לרעך כמוך, אני ד'”
“You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your fellow as yourself – I am Hashem.” We are told that we must love our fellow man just as we love ourselves. What is the reason for the mitzvah, and how can one actually accomplish this?
Chazal say that this is a great law of the Torah. How so? Chazal say that because of Sinas Chinam, hatred amongst Klal Yisroel, the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed. Had Klal Yisroel heeded this mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך properly, the Bais Hamikdash would not have been destroyed. Now that we do not have the Bais Hamikdash, there is no greater Bitul Torah than that, as it says in Maseches Chagigah, because there was no peace, the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, and the Bais Hamikdash was what brought peace between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Klal Yisroel. (כסא דוד)
Regarding these words, it says in Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4 – “אמר רבי עקיבא זה כלל גדול בתורה” – “Rebbe Akiva says that this is a great rule of the Torah.” The words of Rebbe Akiva can be explained with what was written in the Sefer ”וממדבר מתנהבן פרת יוסף. ” – If one makes himself like a midbar (ממדבר), then the Torah is given to him as a gift (מתנה). The Torah is only acquired with sholom, peace, and peace can only be attained by he who is humble. If one makes himself like a midbar, meaning that he is humble, then he will receive the Torah as a gift. The meaning of the words of Rebbe Akiva is that loving your fellow Yid is a great rule of the Torah – one who is humble will be at peace with his friends, and because he is humble, he will be zoche to receive the Torah as a gift. (רוח חיים)
Rashi – זה כלל גדול בתורה – This means that ahavas Yisroel, love of Klal Yisroel, is the rule for one who is a gadol baTorah. Greater than the fact that he is a gadol baTorah, is that he sees his own faults and sees the positive middos in others. That is how he is able to be mekayeim the mitzvah of loving his fellow Yid. (The only way one can truly become a gadol baTorah is if he has these middos, for only he who is humble can have a true kinyan in the Torah). (דברי ישראל)
We can learn this posuk that one should love his friend, and that he should love his neshama. How can one love his friend? It is only one who is humble, and not self-centered, who can have love for his friend. By being humble, one can have a connection to the Torah, and to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. One needs to love his friend, so that he protects his neshama, and can become close to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. By working on the mitzvah of loving his friend, for that is the command of Hashem, he is in actuality working on coming close to Hashem. May we be zoche to fulfill this mitzvah properly, and truly be close to Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
