Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Imrei Pinchas HaShalem

“[Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz] spoke at length about the love of Israel, [saying] that one must love every individual of Israel, and when you sees that someone hates you, you must love them more, for Israel is a Throne for the Shekhina [Presence of G-d] and for holiness. When - G-d forbid!—there is a rift between them, as it were, a hole, an empty space, is created in the Throne, and then, in this way, holiness falls into the

[power] of the ‘shells’ kelippot ​[of evil]—G-d forbid! Therefore one must love others a great deal in order to close up the empty space [in the Throne]. Let no one say: ‘I cannot enter into this quality’ for this is a lie. Certainly, by oneself, one may not be able to [do this], but with the help of the blessed G-d, one can attain to the service of the divine [and thus to the love of Israel]. This quality can bring the Messiah, i.e. by loving every person, even the completely wicked, for hatred without cause destroyed our Temple, and because of our sins, it is still ‘dancing’ among us. Therefore, one must strive to bring oneself to this quality”

Ha Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson z"l (Lubavicher Rebbe)

Brotherly love and harmony begin with the "great axiom of the Torah," namely, "Love your neighbor as yourself." As my father-in-law, the Rebbe would say: Love of a fellow Jew should even extend to a Jew on the other side of the world - even to someone you have never seen.

And when you have an opportunity to do a favor — materially or spiritually — for this Jew, you should do it freely and with a joyful heart.… When there is harmony amongst Jews (in addition to the harmony of a Jewish home — and preceding that, a Jew’s inward harmony — between his two inclinations), then there is peace and harmony in the entire world — especially, "peace in the land" — the Land of Israel.