Knowledge is not just understanding, it is the ability to feel and connect personally to a subject.The tree of knowledge is the ability to know good and evil.
The ability to know good, lends the potential for evil. Emotions are egoistic. When we love, we love ourselves we are then drawn to what we think is good for us.
The same is true even concerning our most spiritual love - the love of G-d. We tell ourselves, and when we are in a spiritual state we realize, that the best thing for us is to connect to G-d. We therefore run the risk of loosing the love of G-d and being drawn to worldly matters, because the underlying most important issues is ourselves, and what is good for us.
Only when our love to G-d is based on the greatness of G-d, and G-d is the focus of our relationship - as oppose to ourselves – will we always maintain our connection to G-d.
(VAYAKHEL - ETER )
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4 comments:
You contradicted yourself. Love is always egoistic, then at the end you can love and focus just on Hashem and not be egoistic? Besides doesn't it say in Tanya, even the greatest Tzaddik with the highest love for Hashem is still yesh mi sheoiheiv?
I was giving a shiur and struggling to explain how love is very egoistic and self centered. Like 'I love you', It's all about me. You are just the thing I love. And I was struggling to explain how love is such a selfish thing and what's so good about that.
Anyway today I came up with this:
If I ask your opinion if you like the picture I drew or the vort I said, and you're like; ..um.. yeh, it's real nice. I'm not going to feel to complimented. You're doing it for me, and I asked for your opinion, if you like it.
On the other hand, if you get excited, meaning that you like it. That is a compliment.
The same is with love; I want you to get excited about me. Accepting me is very nice but not love.
Adam and Chava couldn't love because they didn't feel themselves. There was no 'I' so there was no 'love you' either. After eitz hadaas that's when people where able to love.
yossi, your explenation is great!
(I am not only accepting it, I am excited about it.
What would "Ahaavh Sheaina T'luya B'davar" mean?
Is the focus on yourself? then it is T'luyah B'davar (what YOU gain), is the focus on the one that you love? then where YOUR feeling of love?
Maybe this deeper thing in love "Ahaavh Sheaina T'luya B'davar" comes from our “Etzem” connection with Hashem, and that’s where the felling comes from (because in essence that is who we are. that is why it is "Aina Tluya B'davar" for you don’t need a reason, just like you don’t need a reason to love yourself (and even if you have a reason NOT to love yourself you will still love yourself!)).
And once this "atzmius'dike" connection is B'galu then it can also be applied to loving your fellow Jew (since we all come from the same place)
(Al derech the Rebbe's Biur in Oys 11 in Purim Katan 52).
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