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LEVITICUS | 19:18 love — LEV702 We are obligated to love fellow Jews. Ram...

LEV702 We are obligated to love fellow Jews. Rambam writes: "We are obligated to love every single fellow Jew as ourselves, as the Torah states, 'Love your fellowman as yourself.' Therefore, we must praise others [although it is ordinarily commendable to praise others, there are times when it is not permitted to do so. We should not praise someone in the presence of someone who dislikes him, for the person who dislikes him is apt to disparage him. Furthermore, it is improper to praise someone excessively, for either you or the listener might be tempted to add something derogatory to qualify or refute the praise. Moreover, we must not praise a person in the presence of a group, since someone in the group is apt to say something derogatory about this subject of praise. Chofetz Chayim, ch. 9 and Guard Your Tongue, pp. 109-110)], and we must care about their money just as we care about our own money and our own dignity. Whoever derives honor from humiliating someone else, loses his share in the world become." (Hilchos Daios 6:3). The commandment of loving your fellow man can be fulfilled at all times, every single second of the day. Any favor or kindness that you do for someone is a fulfillment of this commandment. But the commandment can also be fulfilled through thought. When you are happy about the good fortune of someone else, it constitutes an act of loving your fellow man. For instance, if you hear that someone just gave birth to a child and you feel happy, you fulfill this commandment. The same applies when someone suffers misfortune. If you feel sad because of his suffering, you fulfill this commandment. These thoughts are permissible at all times, even in places where it is forbidden to think thoughts of Torah. By fulfilling this commandment properly, a person can easily amass thousands upon thousands of mitzvos. (Yesod Veshoresh Hoavodah 1:7,8). The difficulty of feeling this commandment lies in the fact that most people are inclined to be jealous of others. When they hear about someone's good fortune (for example, he became wealthy or received great honor), their jealousy is aroused and prevents them from being sincerely happy. Therefore, it is extremely important for a person to work on rectifying his trait of jealousy. Another important factor that will enable a person to love his fellow man is judging them favorably. For if even once you do not judge someone favorably, you will no longer be able to feel a complete love for him. (ibid.). The Baal Shem Tov used to say: "'Love your fellow man as yourself.' You know that you have many faults, nevertheless, you still love yourself. That is how you should feel toward your friend. Despite his faults, love him." (Likutai Avraham, p. 221). Your behavior towards someone should be based on his feelings, not your own. If someone would want something to be done for him, even if you yourself would not need or want it, you should do it for him. The same applies in the negative. Even if you would not mind if someone said or did a particular thing to you, you must not do or say it to someone who will be bothered by it. (Pele Yoatz, section ahavah). [Transcriber's note: Author provides extensive discussion of "some of the fundamental details" of the commandment to Love one's fellow man, with numerous examples.]

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Source KeyPLYN
Verse19:18
Keyword(s)love
Source Page(s)300-2

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