Emulating Our Creator
Rabbi Moshe Goldberger

Loving Our Fellow Jews

A major component of loving Hashem is to love His people, who love Him and cling to His Torah.

Hashem chose us (Devarim 7:6) and He loves us (ibid., 8). We learn from Him to love those whom He loves — b’ni bechori Yisrael, “My firstborn son, Israel” (Shemos 4:22).

Parashas Kedoshim is a most significant parashah, as it contains many essential teachings of the Torah. For this reason, it was taught to the entire assembly of Jews (Rashi, Vayikra 19:2). One of its primary verses is the great rule, “Love others as you love yourself” (Vayikra 19:18).

The Rambam teaches this law as follows: “Each person is obligated to love each and every Jew as oneself.... Thus, a person must praise another and care about his money as he cares about his own money and desires and honor...” (Hilchos Dei’os 6:3).

This mitzvah is the underlying principle to success in life.

Loving others includes:

  • Always treating others with respect
  • Greeting them with friendliness
  • Assisting them in physical ways
  • Encouraging them
  • Giving them the benefit of the doubt (dan l’kaf zechus), i.e., judging them in a positive way in situations of doubt
  • Sharing in their suffering and in their joys
  • Praying for others and blessing them frequently with health, wisdom, livelihood, success with their families, and more.

    • We often get appeals for financial aid in the mail. Besides sending in a donation (if you are able), you can also say a prayer for the person’s success or welfare. What a great gift you are bestowing on him — asking Hashem to help him.

    We need to train ourselves to love the great sages of our generation and of every generation in history. We need to love all observant Jews, whether they are our “type” or not. Every righteous person deserves our love in emulation of Hashem, who “loves the righteous” (Tehillim 146:9).

    Training Children

    And you shall teach them [the words of Torah] to your children.... (Devarim 6:7)

    One of the things we are commanded in the Shema is to teach the Torah to our children, our greatest treasures. In a sense, this is a form of emulating Hashem, since Hashem teaches us Torah, as we say in Birchos HaTorah (the blessings for the Torah): “Blessed are You, Hashem, who teaches Torah to His people, Yisrael.” By teaching our children and others Torah, we are emulating Hashem.

    We also have to teach children derech eretz (good, Torah-based manners). Teach them to help others. Teach them not to talk too much.

    Teach them to be friendly to all, except for wicked people, whom we have to avoid at all costs.

    Teach them to always think about Hashem and thank Him for all of His blessings.

    In Awake, My Glory (p. 348–351), Rav Avigdor Miller offers the following pointers on Chinuch:

  • Train children to recite all their blessings out loud.
  • Boys should be trained to study Chumash, Mishnah, and Gemara aloud at home, and the father should set an example by doing at least some of his Torah studying at home.
  • Children should be taught not to waste anything and to save their money. They should also be taught to give charity. Parents should tell their children, “You are not giving away your money, you are investing it in the bank of the afterlife.”
    • What should our goals be for our children? We can learn them from the Mishnah Berurah’s statement (47:10): “Parents should frequently pray to Hashem for their children to grow up to always engage in Torah study, be righteous, and have good character traits.”

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