Parashas Toldos: Cultivating Unconditional Love for Hashem

By Rav Bentzi Raice,

Afternoon Menahel at Yesodei Yisrael

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The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos states:

כל אהבה שהיא תלויה בדבר – בטל דבר בטלה אהבה; ושאינה תלויה

בדבר – אינה בטלה לעולם.

Any love that depends on a specific thing, when that thing passes, the love does as well. But love that does not depend on a thing never disappears.

The Maggid of Kozhnitz (1737–1814) in the Sefer Avodas Yisrael explains this Mishnah as hinting to the relationship between every Jew and Hashem.

If our love for Hashem is only when “He is good,” then this is not real and eternal love. For if the wheel of fortune turns, our love may as well.

As our Sages explained in Shema, our love and appreciation needs to be in a way of בכל לבבך, ובכל נפשך ובכל מאודך:

No matter which middah Hashem is using to guide us.

When we actualize this love, we awaken a מדה כנגד מדה in Shamayim. As the Baal Shem Tov (1698–1760) explains the pasuk in Tehillim:

ה' שומרך ה' צלך על יד ימינך:

Just as a shadow mimics our actions, Hashem will reciprocate our love in a revealed way.

The Nesivos Shalom (1911–2000) explains that our love for other Jews and for Torah is actually an outgrowth of our love for Hashem — for the three are intertwined:

ישראל, אורייתא, וקודשא בריך הוא — חד הוא!:

The Torah is the adhesive bond — the bridge through which we achieve דביקות בה׳.

In truth, Hashem’s love for Am Yisrael was first expressed way before we were a holy nation standing at Har Sinai. In the very first message Hashem sent to Pharaoh through Moshe Rabbeinu, He said:

בני בכורי ישראל — “My son, My firstborn, Israel. ”This declaration, at a time when Klal Yisrael was

immersed in the impurities of Egypt, was significant in revealing His love for us as unconditional!

And as the pasuk says (Devarim 14:1):

בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם

Rebbe Meir says: בין כך ובין כך...Whether or not we act in a way that is deserving, we are still called children of Hashem — His love is not conditional!

This level of love is the purpose of all Torah and mitzvos, and the purpose of all life’s challenges.

Avraham Avinu passed all his 10 challenges — including the fiery furnace of Nimrod and the test of the Akeidah — by accepting Hashem’s ways with unconditional love. The Maor Einayim (1730–1797) explains that each and every one of us will experience ten tests just as Avraham Avinu did, and they are designed to discern and facilitate our unconditional love for Hashem.

This love is genetically implanted in us from our Avos. As the Nesivos Shalom quotes from the Midrash Tana D’Bei Eliyahu Rabba:

איזוהי אהבה שאינה תלויה בדבר? כגון אהבתן של אברהם יצחק ויעקב שהם אוהבים לקדוש ברוך הוא, והקדוש ברוך הוא אוהב אותם ואת בניהם ובני בניהם עד סוף כל הדורות!

What kind of love is independent of anything? Such as the love of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov for Hashem! And Hashem loves them, and their children, and their children’s children — until the end of all generations!

May we all merit, especially through whatever personal “ten tests” come our way — to respond with that same unconditional love upward, until the צֶלְךָ mirrors every movement of our soul, and Hashem’s love shines on us בגילוי גדול.

Shabbat Shalom u’mevorach! A gut’n, lichtigen Shabbos full of real, eternal ahavah!

Rav Bentzi grew up in Monsey and made Aliyah nine years ago. As a retired tradesman, Rav Benzi now spends his days inspiring young men with his passion for spiritual growth and deep connection to Hashem and His Torah.

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