Living Torah Archives

Our sages teach that the Holy Temple was destroyed because of the baseless hatred that Jews harbored towards one another. It follows then, that rectifying that problem will be the catalyst for rebuilding it. And Speedily.

Through the years of the Rebbe’s leadership, he launched a total of ten campaigns which encouraged and promoted the observance of various commandments. Each campaign had a clear and obvious mission, yet the Campaign of Ahavas Yisrael -- love of one’s fellow, had not been clearly defined. Here the Rebbe explains why.

As a young serviceman in the Israeli Air Force, Moshe Tzur was moved by Chabad’s outreach work. Almost a decade later, when he had a chance to give back to the movement that changed his life, he was even more moved by what he heard from the Rebbe in a private audience. (1970's)

Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel Avraham Shapira and Sefardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu visit the Rebbe during the Days of Sefirah between Passover and Shavuos. A discussion about the students of Rabbi Akiva and the mitzvah to love one’s fellow man.

Reb Sholom Goldshmid was a student at 770 during the late 1940s and early 1950s. When it came time to start thinking about dating and marriage, it was the Rebbe who gave him the most important advice of all (c. 1951).

The Sages instruct us in Ethics of Our Fathers: “Be of the disciples of Aaron the High Priest.” Aaron was the holiest Jew. Yet, which of his qualities do the Sages instruct us to emulate? “Love peace and pursue peace; love all creatures and draw them close to Torah.”

The Sages teach that the Holy Temple was destroyed on account of unwarranted hatred, and will be rebuilt through unwarranted love. Rabbi Pinchas Weberman recalls a private audience in 1973 where the Rebbe explained just how literal this teaching is.

Someone once asked my father-in-law, the Rebbe: “Jewish Law describes certain types of Jews that one should shun. Why, then, do you treat all Jews equaly with love?”

Rabbi Dovid Edelman was a student at 770 during the 1940s. One night, the Rebbe came out from the study of his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, with a fundamental lesson in loving one’s fellow Jew.

The Talmud tells us that 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died because “they did not treat one another with respect.” But the plague ended on Lag BaOmer, which means they had remedied their actions and began to treat each other with the appropriate level of esteem.

Even after a week of consecration for the Holy Tabernacle, the Jews still did not merit for G-d Himself to consecrate the Tabernacle. Only when Aaron brought his sacrifice on the eighth day, did G-d finally manifest His awesome Glory. The sages teach: “Be a student of Aaron: love peace, pursue peace, love all creatures, and bring them close to Torah.” These virtues of Aaron accomplished more than all the Seven Days of Consecration.

The mitzvah to “love your fellow as yourself” raises a dilemma. What should you do when your needs are different from your friend’s? If you are thirsty while your friend is hungry, it would be un-loving to offer him a drink instead of food. If you have time for Torah study while your friend is struggling to make ends meet, it is wrong to help him learn Torah but ignore his need for help earning a livelihood.

The two central mitzvos of Sukkos—the sukkah and the Four Kinds—have at their core the theme of Jewish unity.