Chaim Hibbert Presents… Unconditional Love

In this weeks sedra we are commanded to “love your fellow as yourself”. But the verse finishes “I am Hashem”.

Say the sages; to love our fellow man is something that anyone can relate to with his own intellect. Nevertheless the Torah tells us to love our fellow man because it is the Almighty’s will.

If ones love for someone is based on how one feels, there could easily be a lack of consistency. One day you may feel positive towards someone and the next day it might change. But the Torah commands us that we need to approach this commandment with the attitude that it is the Almighty who commands us to love others. We need to love others whether it comes easily to us or not. One needs to love others consistently and unconditionally because that is what G-d commanded us.

Love is not dependent on whether or not someone managed to turn up for the stone setting or whether or not one received an invitation to the wedding, love is always because “I am Hashem” – the Almighty commanded us to love.

I unfortunately know too many families where the love is conditional. Too many people love their kids only if they can control and clone them to be exactly the way they want them to be for their own honour.

The root of the hebrew word ‘love’ – ‘ahavah’ is ‘hav’ to ‘give’, if one has ulterior motives one is not giving one is taking!

When Jacob ran away from his father-in-law Lavan, one of Lavan`s claims against Yaakov was that he did not let his grandchildren kiss him before they left. This seems so childish!

My brother Yaakov once told me that this was the problem with Lavan`s love. He loved conditional to the kiss! He was one of those parents who force their kids to give them kisses. His love was unnatural, he didn’t love his kids truly, he really loved himself.

So many families have been broken up over such petty arguments: I didn’t receive a birthday card; I wasn’t informed about the upcoming engagement; you didn’t call me for two days etc… love is unnatural in such a form. The love in these cases is of the self and not of the person.

May we all manage to love unconditionally because the Almighty commanded us!

Good Shabbos

Chaim