Daily Tanya 24th Adar 1: Chapter 32-Focusing on the G-dly soul of every Jew

(LY) 24^th Adar 1

• Focusing on the G-dly soul of every Jew: As a result of the fact that one’s body is scorned and viewed in contempt in one’s own eyes, and one has no awareness of the true level of greatness of the soul and spirit within its root and source in G-d [therefore, one can easily accomplish the Mitzvah to love every single Jew]. [This can be accomplished by contemplating how every single Jew contains a holy soul, of which we do not know its level and do not know who contains a higher soul than whom. Now, even though the body and animal soul of the other Jew may be lowly and putrid, nonetheless, we focus on the greatness of his G-dly soul and not the lowliness of his animal soul, just as one uses the same approach regarding himself, as explained in the previous chapters.]
• Focusing that all souls are equal in their root: [One should not be challenged against experiencing love of a fellow Jew due to a feeling of hierarchy that possibly his soul is higher than his friend soul, as aside for the fact that perhaps the opposite is true], in truth all souls are equal in their root above, and they all come from one father.
• We are all brothers: It is due to the above [that we all come from the same root and have one father, who is the one G-d] that all the Jewish people are referred to as brothers, as in truth, we are really all brothers due to the root of our souls in the one G-d, and it is only our bodies that are different.

2. Lack of love for a fellow Jew is a result of making the body the priority of one’s focus:

• Those who do not live according to the philosophies brought in the previous chapters and make their bodies their main focus and their souls of only a secondary focus, it is not possible for them to come to a true love and feeling of brotherhood between them and their fellow Jew, and at maximum they can only experience a love that is due to external factors [i.e. Hateluyah Bedavar].