The Torah states:
“And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord.” (Devorim 6:18)
What does this verse come to teach us?
The Ramban, cites the words of our Sages who explain that this verse exhorts us to go beyond the dictates of the law in our dealings with our fellow man. The Ramban adds that this is a very great principle, since it is impossible for the Torah to actually list every last detail as to how a person should behave with his neighbours and friends.
This is especially important this week after Tisha B’av when we know that the number one reason our second Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed was because of our sin of Sinas Chinom – Baseless hatred.
The command to “Love thy neighbour” can mean many things but at its basic level and maybe it’s most important level it just means Love your fellow Jew – Ahavas Yisroel! With Ahavas Yisroel we can actually perform the command to Love Hashem! How? All man is made be-tzelem Elokim, therefore to love man is to love Hashem!
The Tzemach Tzedek says that Ahavas Yisrael is connected to redemption and that just like baseless hatred was the reason for exile, ahavas yisrael – baseless love for our fellow jews – will bring the geula!
The Rambam writes that one should always take the moderate path, in this matter one must take “love for no reason” to an extreme. Even after one has made great efforts to find merit in another and has failed, one should still have ahavas Yisrael beyond any calculations. This is true love for no reason.
All of Israel have an equal obligation to make the utmost effort to remove any baseless hatred from our midst, G-d forbid, and to replace it with love for no reason.
It is written in the book of Rus that “Yishai gave birth to David.” The Rebbe explains that “Yishai” is a composite of three letters: Yud, Shin, Yud. This can also stand for the words yachad shivtei Yisrael, meaning “together all the tribes of Israel.” The verse can therefore be interpreted to mean that when all the Tribes of Israel are together with ahavas Yisrael, this gives birth to David, from whom Moshiach will come and release us from Golus!
