Daily Tanya Monday 10th Adar: Chapter 32 Part 2: Ahavas Yisrael – The need to love even Reshaim, the sinners, and how to do so

10^th Adar/(LY) 26^th Adar 1

2. The Mitzvah to hate a sinner and its caveats:

• The Talmudic statement: The Talmud states that if one sees that his friend has sinned, then it is a Mitzvah to hate him and also tell his teacher to hate him. [This seemingly contradicts the above command to love every single Jew.]
• Only applies to an observant Jew: [To answer the above seeming contradiction, we must first establish as to which type of Jew the above applies to.] The above Talmudic statement is only directed towards a transgressor who is observant of Torah and Mitzvos [and not towards an individual who is not observant].
• Only applies if you already reproved him: Furthermore, even by an observant Jew who has sinned, the instruction to hate him only applies if one already fulfilled the Mitzvah to rebuke him and he nonetheless refuses to repent.

(LY) 27^th Adar 1

• Only applies if one is acquainted and on intimate terms with the individual: Based on the above, we can deduce that one who is not acquainted with the transgressor and is not his friend and is not on intimate terms with him, then the above instruction and Mitzvah to hate him does not apply.

3. The Mitzvah to love all other sinners, including the not observant Jew:

• The Mitzvah to love all creatures: [Furthermore, not only may one not hate an individual who is not his colleague in Torah and Mitzvah’s and is excluded from the above instruction to be hated, but] on the contrary, towards such a person applies the dictum of Hillel the Elder that one should always chase after peace, and love all creatures and draw them closer to Torah.
• The Mitzvah to love nonreligious Jews and bring them back to Judaism with love: The above instruction to love all creatures includes even those who are very distanced from the Torah and service of G-d, and are hence referred to as mere creatures, nonetheless, one is instructed to attract them to Judaism with strong cords of love.
• The purpose of this love to the nonreligious Jew-Fulfills the Mitzvah of Ahavas Yisrael: [There are no drawbacks involved in this love for the nonreligious Jew, as] if he is successful, then he will manage to bring him back to Torah and service of G-d, and even if he is not successful, he does not lose out from being rewarded for fulfilling the Mitzvah of loving his fellow Jew.

(LY) 28^th Adar 1

4. The Mitzvah to love even those sinners that one is instructed to hate:

• Furthermore, even those sinners whom one is instructed to hate being that one has an intimate relationship with them, and he has reproved them, and they have still not repented from their ways, nonetheless, there still remains a Mitzvah to also love them.

5. How one can love and hate a person at the same time:

• Loving the good and hating the evil: Both the command to hate this Jew and the command to love this Jew are true and viable to be fulfilled, as the hatred is only towards the evil that is within him, while the love is towards his good aspects that are hidden within him, which refers to the G-dly spark that enlivens his G-dly soul.
• Arousing mercy for the sinner: Furthermore, one should also arouse mercy in his heart for the G-dly soul which is found in a state of exile inside of the evil of the transgressor.
• Mercy has ability to nullify the hatred: This mercy that one arouses, has the ability to nullify the hatred towards this Jew and arouse love for him, as is known from the verse “and Jacob [i.e. compassion] which has redeemed Abraham [i.e. love].”

6. The Mitzvah to hate heretics:

• An exception to all the above is with regards to those who are Halachically defined as heretics, towards whom one is instructed to hate them to the utmost [without any feeling of love or mercy for them].
• The reason for this is because [they have lost all their good and] no longer have a portion in the G-d of Israel.