Lechteich Mussar Podcast
Join us as we explore the depth of bitachon, as explained in the timeless sefer Shaar HaBitachon.
Lechteich Mussar Podcast
Bais HaLevi #18 - Ahavas Yisroel
Welcome to our new limud of the Bais HaLevi on Ahavas Yisroel!
Today's shiur is sponsored anonymously.
Today's shiur is sponsored by a very dear and close friend of mine out in Manchester, New Jersey. You might be anonymous to the world, but we'll never forget the days in Eretz, Yisrael. You know who you are. I thank you so much and I wish you much atzalacha in all your endeavors. Okay, everybody, welcome back to the Lech Teich Moshe podcast. Very exciting, as we embark on the next sefer of the classic essays of the Beis Alevi. We are going on now to the Beis Alevi on the Havas Yisrael.
Speaker 0:What a wonderful time before Purim, as we go into the Yontif of L'Yehudim Ha'Yisra Uyrah and there was a tremendous sense of Achdva V'Reyus and that's the whole mitzvah of Matanas Av'Yoynim and Mishlech Manas to increase our love, our unfiltered, untainted and just literally boundless love for one another. What a time to work on it. And we begin with Mitzvah Sahava, Parak Aleph, Chapter 1. Mitzvah Sahava, l'chal echar hu. Mitzvah saseh, the mitzvah, the commandment of every single Jew, is a positive commandment. Shana amar v'hav to l'recha komaycha, as it says, you shall love your fellow as yourself, as we learn in Shabbos that this mitzvah, this principle, encompasses, it encapsulates all of the Torah. Why? Because this attitude of loving one another prevents jealousy and anger and similar emotions from entering one's heart. And, as we know that kina and taiva and kava, these are things that are so it goes hand in hand, it's synonymous, it's a parallel to what we're learning over here. That is literally because when one removes and abstains and works to stay as far as possible to rid oneself from these terrible attributes, then one becomes a loving yid and ultimately loved and beloved by HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
Speaker 0:Going on to chapter 2, Parak Bey Zahavas HaGer. So besides loving every yid, there's a mitzvah as well to love every convert. Besides loving every yid, there's a mitzvah as well to love every convert. Regarding the convert, the Torah multiplied the mitzvah to love with an additional positive commandment. As it says, there's a mitzvah to love the ger. And to add on to this is a beautiful thought that I once discussed in the Lech Teich Parsha a couple of years ago, A beautiful thought from Moshe Feinstein.
Speaker 0:He asks that in Sefer Shemais we find that Moshe Bener named his son. One of his sons' name was Gersham Ki Omer Ger Ha'isi Be'er Tz'Nachria, and it's a very strange choice for a name. Why would he name his son Gershon? Because he was a Ger Be'er Tz'nachria. And it's a beautiful piece. It's Kedai to look at it, but the Yisrael of Rav Meisha over there, he says, is because we all have to remember that we're all Ger in Be'er Tz'nachria, we're all foreigners, we're all passing through and we can never get too comfortable, we can never just be like, yeah, I'm a familiar face, I can do what I want, I can look at what I want, I can feel what I. There's no such thing. We're all gerim, we're all mishubbit to the ebishtot, to Rats and Hashem, and we have that mindset of ourselves that nothing is a free-for-all, nothing is hefker sense, even in our own religion, even those of us that are fortunate to be born from birth. But at the end of the day, we all possess this midah of geris within all of us and we always have to remember that. And certainly when there are real gerim, when we're dealing with other gerim, there's an extra mitzvah to love gerim. Exactly for this reason, and we have to be aware and exercise this extra love that one maybe wouldn't have innately. But Hashem gives us an extra adherence, an extra commandment, because we have to strengthen our love to Geirim and always remember that we are all Geirim ourselves.
Speaker 0:Moving on to Paragimel, chapter 3. Lo'irah hava to arouse feelings of love. La'kein so'akh ko'adam lo'irah b'libah. A person is required to awaken in his heart Ahava al kol, to love everyone. U'kheshe'enim ma'ayru ha'ava la'ikiya mitzvah saseyzu. And when one does not arouse his love, this love for others, he has not fulfilled the positive commandment. So, as we're going into Parim, we must strengthen ourselves. We're going to be doing the mitzvahs, and the mitzvah is to attach ourselves to have boundless, ceaseless love, unshakable. Do whatever we can for friends, show them that we truly love them. And, of course, it's important to remember that, while you have to give shalach and manas to all those that we love, but try to think about the person that perhaps is not on our radar person and show him or her that you care about them, that you're thinking about them, and that will be meaningful not just to them but ultimately to you, Because when you do good for others, you're doing good ultimately for yourself.