Aaron’s Passing
Ahavas Chinam is loving someone not because they are endowed with great spiritual, intellectual or physical talents. This love is not even engendered by another’s positive behavior towards you. It is love that is based on the fact that the other person is G-d’s creation. There does not have to be a reason to justify our love towards another.
The Only Date
The only person whose date of passing is mentioned explicitly in the Torah is Aaron (Moses’ brother). In this week’s Torah portion, Masei, the Torah states that Aaron passed away on first day (Rosh Chodesh) of the fifth month (Menachem Av). It is not a coincidence that the reading of this Torah portion occurs on the Shabbos that either precedes or follows his Yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing).
What is the connection between Aaron and the first day of the month of Menachem Av?
Senseless Love
Menachem Av is the month during which the Beis Hamikdash (The Holy Temple) was destroyed. The reason for its destruction the Talmud informs us was due to our own divisiveness. At the time the Temple was destroyed, Sinas Chinam (senseless hatred) was rampant within the Jewish community. Our sages tell us that the way to undo the destruction of the Temple is by going to the other extreme, Ahavas Chinam.
Ahavas Chinam can best be defined as loving someone not because they are endowed with great spiritual, intellectual or physical talents. This love is not engendered by another’s positive behavior towards yourself. It is love that is based on the fact that the other person is G-d’s creation. There does not have to be a reason to justify our love towards another.
This is what Aaron’s whole life was about. Our sages (Ethics of the Fathers Chapter one) state:
“Be like the disciples of Aaron who love peace and pursue peace, who love the creatures and draw then near to the Torah.”
The Alter Rebbe (the first Rebbe of Chabad) in his classic Tanya observes that the word “creatures” is used rather than “person.” This is to teach us that we should direct our love even to one whose sole claim to fame is the fact he or she is G-d’s creation, G-d’s handiwork.
Irrational or Supra-rational?
Some might counter with the idea that we, as humans, must be rational and everything we do must be based on logic. How then could we demand that we suspend our logic and love people we find rather loathsome.
There are basically two answers to this question, The first and foremost is that logic and rationality are extremely important in Judaism. But transcending logic is even greater. After we have mastered rational thought and lived our lives consistent with our knowledge, we are then asked to transcend our own limits to connect to an unfathomable G-d. This approach \is not ant—intellectual and irrational it is supra-rational that contains rationality and that which transcends it.
The second answer relates to our consistency. If we can hate someone senselessly, why is it so difficult to accept the notion that we have to love unconditionally? If we reflected on everything we do, we will discover that as rational as we are, there are things that we do that defy logic. In response to a challenge we might say, “That’s who I am!”
Well, if that is who we are, we can certainly state the truth that deep down we are one people and that we must therefore treat the other as a part of us that we embrace unconditionally.
One can add a third rationale for being supra-rational when it comes to loving the other. We are living on the cusp of the Messianic Age when we will be exposed to infinite G-dly energy. We will then all experience this incredible unity. Let us begin plugging in to that dynamic in these last minutes of exile so that we become the force that brings the Final Redemption and the building of the Third Beis Hamikdash!
By following Aaron’s example we create the atmosphere within ourselves and within the world to be receptive to the G-dly revelations that occurred in the Temple. May we see its rebuilding imminently!
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Matos-Masei by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
