A famous Talmudic story relates how a prospective convert to Judaism asked the Sage Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot.

Hillel answered that one must fulfill the commandment of "Ahavat Yisrael", love of one’s fellow Jew, and that the rest of the Torah is commentary. (He followed with the less-known conclusion, "Go learn!")

In the Torah there are two categories of commandments. One group governs interpersonal relations, prohibiting theft, gossip, falsehood, etc. Another category deals with matters between a Jew and G-d, such as eating kosher, having mezuzot on one’s doors, observing the Sabbath, etc.

We are immediately struck with an obvious question. "Ahavat Yisrael" will ensure fulfillment of the first category, since love for an individual means that one would not do anything to harm the individual.

However, "Ahavat Yisrael" does not seem to include all of the other "mitzvot", which are between the person and G-d. How could Hillel claim that it is the entire Torah?

"Ahavat Yisrael", in and of itself, is also difficult to understand. Proper fulfillment of this mitzva requires feeling for every single Jew, regardless of how he might behave and how undesirable his personality might seem. "Ahavat Yisrael" must be felt even for a Jew on the other side of the world, whom you have never seen.

This seems to be an impossible task. One cannot feel love unless one feels something positive and attractive about the other person. How can one develop a feeling of love without having seen anything desirable in the person’s character or even seen him at all?

The answer is that one must look to the essence of his Jewishness, that which makes him a Jew.

GET TO THE POINT

The sole element which spans all variants of time, philosophy, language and culture is the possession of a Jewish soul.

Regardless of his level of Jewish commitment or knowledge, the Jew possesses a unique Jewish soul. This soul, the irrevocable inheritance of every single Jew, is pure and unsullied, holy and powerful.

To truly have "Ahavat Yisrael", one must be able to ignore the outer trappings of physical appearance, the niceties of personality and etiquette, and the vestiges of an imperfect upbringing. One must penetrate to the core, and sense the existence of the soul within.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of Chabad Chasidic philosophy, explained that, "the basis and root purpose of the entire Torah is to elevate and exalt the soul high above the body." This spiritual dimension of "Ahavat Yisrael" is what makes it the entire Torah, for spiritual elevation is what the Torah is all about.

LEARN TO LOVE

Actually, every mitzva has a spiritual dimension. Eating kosher food, for example, is tantamount to saying that there is an existence beyond the physical which is also significant. The kosher laws proclaim that it is not sufficient to merely consider the taste, nutritional value, and price of the food. One must also think of the food’s spiritual value, and its effect on the soul.

However, a person might keep kosher even without giving much thought to its spiritual importance. He might be eating kosher because his ancestors did so, for example, or because he finds it culturally satisfying.

True, he is fulfilling the mitzva of keeping kosher, and this mitzva will lead him to do others, but the manner in which he does the mitzva limits its ability to enhance his spiritual progress.

"Ahavat Yisrael", on the other hand, cannot be done merely out of habit. Although some people have a nature which enables them to tolerate, and even love, a wide range of individuals, there always comes a point at which love becomes impossible.

The only way to feel love for every single Jew, without exception, is to relate to his spiritual existence, his soul. Therefore, it is specifically "Ahavat Yisrael", from among all the mitzvot, which is the paradigm of the entire Torah. Its proper fulfillment brings with it the spiritual elevation which is the basis of the entire Torah.

The Torah states "Love your neighbor as [you would love] yourself" (Leviticus 19:18). To the average person, this commandment seems utterly detached from reality. How can one possibly be expected to love another person as much as he loves himself?

Chasidic teachings suggest that one view all Jews as if they were one complete person. Some Jews correspond to the head, others the body, and still others, the feet. If you’ve ever had a headache, you’ll readily admit that the pain affects not just your head, but your entire body. And an ingrown toenail can cause an inability to think or concentrate. The body, with all its organs and limbs, is a totally integrated system.

The Jewish people are an integrated body. Every Jew has a part of himself within his fellow Jew. In loving another Jew, he is actually showing love for himself. A chasid, Rabbi Shlomo Bay’ever, once related a story that the Baal Shem Tov said:

I call as my witness heaven and earth that when the Heavenly Court was judging a case involving a man having against him a serious charge, a man who was so simple that he only knew how to pray and recite Psalms, yet was exceptional in his love of fellow Jew with all the faculties of his soul: in thought--always thinking thoughts of love of fellow Jews; in speech--speaking of love of fellow Jew; in deed--benefiting everyone to the best of his ability; sharing the sorrow of every Jew, man or woman, and rejoicing in their joy; that the verdict handed down by the Heavenly Court was that he is to have a place among the righteous scholars whom our Sages said were lovers of Israel." The sigh of a Jew over the suffering of another Jew breaks all barriers, and the joy and blessings which one rejoices in another’s happiness, is as acceptable by G-d as the prayer of the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. A beautiful custom and practical way to foster love of a fellow Jew is to say each morning: I take upon myself the positive commandment of "Love your fellow like yourself." What a way to start the day!

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