„Even though sometimes the love of all creatures encompasses everythin…”
„Even though sometimes the love of all creatures encompasses everything, and even the wicked is included in the love, this does not detract at all from the hatred of evil — on the contrary, it strengthens it. For surely it is not from the wickedness of the evil that he is included in the love, but from the portion of good within him, for love says that it is found everywhere; and since one separates out the portion of good in order to love it, the hatred remains directed at the portion of evil, penetrating and complete.”From "Ahavah" (Love), section VIII
We are commanded to love every person of Israel, but what shall we do when there are also evil people in Israel? Are we commanded to love them as well?
Rav Kook, in the entry "Love," distinguishes between loving the person and loving his deeds. We must love the person by virtue of his being a person, and we may hate his evil deeds by virtue of the deeds being evil.
Our love for a particular person does not mean agreement with all his deeds, and our love for him must stem from his positive side and not from his negative side.
When we truly conduct ourselves this way and make the distinction between good and evil within a person, we will succeed in raising ourselves to a higher level, and the person standing before us as well.
Have a pleasant rest of the day, everyone!
For the recovery of Roza bat Bova.
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.