The Main Commandment

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why does everyone remember about 613 commandments, but forget that above all of them there is the singular commandment of love?

Answer: There is only one commandment: a directive to attain love of others since by doing so we prepare the vessel of our soul to be filled with the Light and to attain adhesion with the Creator. To “love others as I love myself” means to unify all of the desires that are opposite and hated by you into one and in doing so, attain the magnitude that would allow you to reveal the Creator and become one with Him. Thus, we overcome the entire abyss that separates us from Him.

This commandment of love is divided into two parts: “repentance from fear” which is the level of Bina and “repentance from love” which is the level of Keter. I have to apply these two gradual corrections to all of my thoughts and desires, one by one.

The first correction is to stop hating the other person. I hate him from the start, but when I correct hatred, I cover half of the distance from the negative state, hatred, to the neutral state, zero. This level is the property of GAR de Bina where I don’t wish anything for myself, having risen over my entire enormous egoistic will to receive. I don’t wish to harm anyone. Even though it is revealed to me that I can, without any consequence, take everything away from others and destroy them, I want none of it; I don’t wish to put a scratch on anyone.

Then, from this level (the spiritual degree of GAR de Bina), I ascend to the level of love and correct my desires to the level of bestowal (the spiritual degree of ZAT de Bina). ZAT de Bina is the womb of a spiritual Partzuf, so I desire to bestow to all and fulfill all desires. In this way, from hate, I attain love.

So it turns out that there is only one commandment of love which we attain in two steps. Initially, we are opposite to love, and before anything else, we have to attain the neutral state. Then we ascend to love.

613 commandments are corrections of one will to receive pleasure, which has many properties and, therefore, requires various corrections although all of them exist to attain love. I must constantly think about this final destination; otherwise, I will not draw the Light that Reforms. Hence, we have to constantly think about the final, corrected state where I, the Light that Reforms me, and the Creator (Israel, the Torah, and the Creator) are one.

It may seem to a person: “Why should I be thinking about the Creator right now? He is so distant from me, so let me fix my relations with the society first!” But we can’t correct anything in society until we draw the Light that Reforms. It is the Light in particular that has to perform corrections, and the Light of correction is, in fact, the Creator, so we can’t forget about Him.

Hence, in all of the “613” corrections, the thought of  love of others (the main commandment of love for the Creator) must always be present. Without it, we do not draw the Surrounding Light and neither correct nor connect anything.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/5/10, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

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One Comment

  1. Now the Golden Rule makes sense to me. I have found its utility in various ways and have relied on it to the extent I have been able through many years of sporadic improvement. I feel I better understand the reason I did this after reading your words here. Thank you.

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