"הכל בחביבותא תליא"
זוהר הקדוש
"It all depends on love"
Holy Zohar
I saw a headline from a few months ago on one of the "Jewish" blogs:
Pre-Army Yeshiva Rabbi Lauds Hitler.
I thought that would be quite unlikely. Rabbis, actually all Jews and all decent human beings, tend to see Hitler as the personification [although calling him a "person" is a compliment he doesn't deserve שר"י] of evil. I located a recording of the shiur where he allegedly "lauded" [defined as "highly praised or admired"] the Monster and of course he said nothing that would imply that he has anything but intense hatred for the Devil himself ימ"ש. [Ben Shapiro is often called a Nazi (and gets death threats - because Nazis should all die...). The price he pays for money, fame, notoriety and expressing a conservative world view. He picks up his yarmulke and says that it is strange that a Nazi would wear one of these....]. So why would someone write something like that and drag an innocent person's name in the mud in a public forum?
The answer is that the writer most probably hates Torah and religious Jews, so she found a recording from 12 years ago [!!] and falsely quoted the rabbi in order to spread the hatred of Torah, rabbis and religious Jews.
There is only ONE WAY to respond to hatred and that is with love. I am not a Christian who talks about loving your enemies. אוהבי השם שנאו רע. I am talking about loving those who deserve love. We all have love in our hearts but all too often not enough people are the recipients of this love.
Imagine if you had UNLIMITED FUND$$$$$. Every time you made a withdrawal from the bank - the money was magically restored - sometimes with more money!! Wouldn't you make LOADS of withdrawals? We all have limitless capacity in our hearts to love. But who are the lucky people who feel that love? Close relatives and maybe a handful of friends. But you lose NOTHING by loving more people [and loving those you already love even more] and only gain. So why not spread it around generously? You will be enriched as will everyone around you.
In Elul, we return to the Torah. Rebbi Akiva teaches that the principal of the WHOLE TORAH is loving your neighbor as yourself. You have that - you have it ALL.
AND REMEMBER - LOVE IS A VERB. Don't wait for the feeling to come. As the old Nike [?] ad used to proclaim - "Just do it".
