According
to
What
Is
Explained
Concerning
“Love
Thy
Friend
as
Thyself”
Article
7,
1984
According
to
what
is
explained
concerning
“Love
thy
friend
as
thyself,”
all
the
details
of
the
612
Mitzvot
[commandments]
are
contained
in
this
rule.
It
is
as
our
sages
say,
“The
rest
is
its
commentary;
go
study.”
This
means
that
by
keeping
the
612
Mitzvot
we
will
be
rewarded
with
the
rule,
“Love
thy
friend,”
and
following
that,
the
love
of
God.
Thus,
what
does
love
of
friends
give
us?
It
is
written
that
by
gathering
a
few
friends
together,
since
they
each
have
but
a
small
force
of
love
of
others—meaning
they
can
carry
out
the
love
of
others
only
potentially—when
they
implement
it,
they
remember
that
they
have
decided
to
relinquish
self-love
in
favor
of
love
of
others.
But
in
fact,
one
sees
that
he
cannot
relinquish
any
pleasure
of
the
will
to
receive
in
favor
of
another,
not
even
a
bit.
However,
by
assembling
a
few
people
who
agree
that
they
have
to
achieve
the
love
of
others,
when
they
annul
themselves
before
one
another,
they
are
all
intermingled.
Thus,
in
each
person
there
accumulates
a
great
force,
according
to
the
size
of
the
association.
And
then
each
can
execute
the
love
of
others
in
actual
fact.
So
what
do
the
details
of
the
612
Mitzvot
give
us,
which
we
said
are
in
order
to
keep
the
rule,
since
the
rule
is
kept
by
love
of
friends?
And
we
see
that
in
reality,
there
is
love
of
friends
among
the
secular,
too.
They,
too,
gather
in
various
circles
in
order
to
have
love
of
friends.
What,
then,
is
the
difference
between
religious
and
secular?
The
verse
says
(Psalms
1),
“…nor
sat
in
the
seat
of
the
scornful.”
We
must
understand
the
prohibition
of
the
“seat
of
the
scornful.”
If
he
slanders
or
speaks
idle
words,
then
the
prohibition
is
not
because
of
a
“seat
of
scornful.”
So
what
does
the
“seat
of
the
scornful”
give
us?
Actually,
the
meaning
is
that
when
a
few
people
come
together
for
the
purpose
of
love
of
friends,
with
the
intention
that
each
and
every
one
will
help
his
friend
improve
his
corporeal
state,
each
anticipates
that
by
having
more
meetings
they
will
profit
from
society
and
improve
their
corporeal
state.
However,
after
all
the
meetings,
everyone
calculates
and
sees
how
much
they
have
received
from
the
association
for
the
self-love,
what
the
will
to
receive
has
gained
by
that,
since
they
invested
time
and
effort
to
benefit
society.
So
what
have
they
gained
by
it?
One
could
probably
succeed
more
if
engaged
in
self-benefit,
at
least
the
part
of
his
own
efforts.
But,
“I
entered
the
association
because
I
thought
that
through
it,
I
would
be
able
to
gain
more
than
I
could
gain
alone.
But
now
I
see
that
I
have
gained
nothing.”
Then
one
regrets
it
and
says,
“I
would
be
better
off
using
my
own
little
strength
instead
of
giving
my
time
to
society.
However,
now
that
I
have
given
my
time
to
society,
in
order
to
gain
more
properties
through
help
from
the
society,
I
finally
realize
that
not
only
did
I
not
gain
anything
from
society,
I
even
lost
what
I
could
have
gained
alone.”
When
someone
wishes
to
say
that
love
of
friends
should
be
engaged
in
for
the
purpose
of
bestowal,
that
everyone
should
work
to
benefit
others,
everyone
laughs
and
mocks
him.
It
seems
to
them
like
a
kind
of
joke,
and
this
is
a
seat
of
seculars.
It
is
said
about
it,
“but
sin
is
a
reproach
to
any
people,
and
every
grace
that
they
do,
they
do
for
themselves.”
Such
a
society
detaches
one
from
holiness
and
casts
him
into
the
world
of
mockery.
This
is
the
prohibition
of
the
seat
of
the
scornful.
Our
sages
said
about
such
societies,
“Disperse
the
wicked;
better
for
them
and
better
for
the
world.”
In
other
words,
it
is
better
that
they
do
not
exist.
However,
it
is
the
opposite
with
the
righteous:
“Assemble
the
righteous;
better
for
them
and
better
for
the
world.”
What
is
the
meaning
of
“righteous”?
It
is
those
who
want
to
keep
the
rule,
“Love
thy
friend
as
thyself.”
Their
sole
intention
is
to
exit
self-love
and
assume
a
different
nature
of
love
of
others.
And
although
it
is
a
Mitzva
[commandment]
that
should
be
kept,
and
that
one
can
force
oneself
to
keep,
love
is
still
something
that
is
given
to
the
heart,
and
the
heart
disagrees
with
it
by
nature.
What,
then,
can
one
do
to
make
love
of
others
touch
the
heart?
This
is
why
we
were
given
the
612
Mitzvot:
they
have
the
power
to
induce
a
sensation
in
the
heart.
However,
since
it
is
against
nature,
that
sensation
is
too
small
to
have
the
ability
to
keep
love
of
friends
de
facto,
even
though
one
has
a
need
for
it.
Hence,
now
he
must
seek
advice
on
how
to
actually
implement
it.
The
advice
for
one
to
be
able
to
increase
his
strength
in
the
rule,
“Love
thy
friend,”
is
by
love
of
friends.
If
everyone
is
nullified
before
his
friend
and
mingles
with
him,
they
become
one
mass
where
all
the
little
parts
that
want
the
love
of
others
unite
in
a
collective
force
that
consists
of
many
parts.
And
when
one
has
great
strength,
he
can
execute
the
love
of
others.
And
then
he
can
achieve
the
love
of
God.
But
the
condition
is
that
each
will
annul
before
the
other.
However,
when
he
is
separated
from
his
friend,
he
cannot
receive
the
share
he
should
receive
from
his
friend.
Thus,
everyone
should
say
that
he
is
nothing
compared
to
his
friend.
It
is
like
writing
numbers:
If
you
first
write
“1”
and
then
“0,”
it
is
ten
times
more.
And
when
you
write
“00”
it
is
a
hundred
times
more.
In
other
words,
if
his
friend
is
number
one,
and
the
zero
follows
it,
it
is
considered
that
one
receives
from
his
friend
ten
(10)
times
more.
And
if
he
says
that
he
is
double
zero
compared
to
his
friend,
he
receives
from
his
friend
a
hundred
(100)
times
more.
However,
if
it
is
to
the
contrary,
and
he
says
that
his
friend
is
zero
and
he
is
one,
then
he
is
ten
times
less
than
his
friend
0.1.
And
if
he
can
say
that
he
is
one
and
he
has
two
friends
who
are
both
zeros
compared
to
him,
then
he
is
considered
a
hundred
times
less
than
them,
meaning
he
is
0.01.
Thus,
his
degree
lessens
according
to
the
number
of
zeros
he
has
from
his
friends.
Yet,
even
once
he
acquires
that
strength
and
can
keep
the
love
of
others
in
actual
fact,
and
feels
his
own
gratification
as
bad
for
him,
still,
do
not
believe
in
yourself.
There
must
be
fear
of
falling
into
self-love
in
the
middle
of
the
work.
In
other
words,
should
one
be
given
a
greater
pleasure
than
he
is
used
to
receiving,
although
he
can
already
work
in
order
to
bestow
with
small
pleasures
and
is
willing
to
relinquish
them,
he
lives
in
fear
of
great
pleasures.
This
is
called
“fear,”
and
this
is
the
gate
to
receive
the
Light
of
faith,
called
“The
inspiration
of
the
Shechina
[Divinity],”
as
it
is
written
in
The
Sulam
Commentary,
“By
the
measure
of
fear
is
the
measure
of
faith.”
Hence,
we
must
remember
that
the
matter
of
“Love
thy
friend
as
thyself”
should
be
kept
because
it
is
a
Mitzva,
since
the
Creator
commanded
to
engage
in
love
of
friends.
And
Rabbi
Akiva
only
interprets
this
Mitzva
that
the
Creator
commanded.
He
intended
to
make
this
Mitzva
into
a
rule
by
which
to
be
able
to
keep
all
the
Mitzvot
because
of
the
commandment
of
the
Creator,
and
not
because
of
self-benefit.
In
other
words,
it
is
not
that
the
Mitzvot
should
expand
our
will
to
receive,
meaning
that
by
keeping
the
Mitzvot
we
would
be
generously
rewarded.
Quite
the
contrary;
by
keeping
the
Mitzvot
we
will
reach
the
reward
of
being
able
to
annul
our
self-love
and
achieve
the
love
of
others,
and
subsequently
the
love
of
God.
Now
we
can
understand
what
our
sages
said
about
the
verse,
VeSamtem
[Place
them].
It
comes
from
the
word,
Sam
[“potion,”
as
well
as
“placing”].
“If
granted,
it
is
a
potion
of
life;
if
not
granted,
it
is
a
potion
of
death.”
Not
granted
means
that
one
engages
in
Torah
and
Mitzvot
to
multiply
self-love,
so
the
body
would
acquire
possessions
in
return
for
its
work.
If
granted,
one’s
self-love
is
nullified
and
he
aims
to
receive
a
reward
that
is
the
strength
for
love
of
others.
By
this
he
will
reach
the
love
of
the
Creator—that
his
only
wish
will
be
to
give
contentment
to
the
Creator.