Parashat Acharei Mot–Kedoshim

In this week's portion it is said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Rav Kook opens the concept of “love” into a whole world of depth and complexity. On the one hand, the Rav emphasizes the essential difference between the Israelite soul and the souls of the nations, its uniqueness, its holiness, its distinct spiritual aspirations. Yet precisely out of that holiness is born a broad call to love every person, every nation, every creature. The goal is not to blur the differences, but to deepen the understanding. The Rav does not deny gradations and difference, but builds from them a whole progression, that begins with love of created beings, continues with love of the human being as such, and reaches its peak in the love of Israel out of inner purity, and not out of insularity or fear. True love does not deny difference, but neither does it hate it. It sees all of reality as a space in which holiness can appear, if we choose to see it with clean eyes and a soul rich in love.

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