The two hundred and fifty-ninth "cheder" in the palace of Hayom Yom.
Friday, 12 Menachem Av, 5703.
Lessons: Chumash, Va'etchanan, Shishi, with Rashi's commentary.
Tehillim, on the 12th of the month, from chapter 66 through chapter 68 inclusive.
Tanya: On this day we conclude the third letter in the "Igeret HaKodesh" section of the Tanya. The daily portion begins on page 208 with the words "Ahuvai achai," continuing until the conclusion of the letter with the word "tidrishenu."
The daily teaching appeared in the talk of the Rebbe Rayatz on 19 Kislev 5689, which was in fact the Rebbe's "Sheva Brachos" meal, and at that very farbrengen the Rebbe Rayatz related this story.
And so he states in the saying (originally in Yiddish): "The Rebbe—the Alter Rebbe—said [a teaching] from the Maggid of Mezritch, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: "Love your fellow as yourself" is an interpretation and elucidation of "You shall love the L-rd your G-d"." In other words, when a Jew loves another Jew, and "Love your fellow as yourself" is fulfilled properly, then its inner and deeper meaning is the love of G-d.
Why? As he immediately explains: "In loving a fellow Jew one loves the Holy One, blessed be He, for within a Jew there exists a portion of G-d Above, and through the love of the Jew — his inner essence — one thereby loves the Holy One, blessed be He." If one Jew loves his fellow not because of his external qualities — for if you love him because of his external qualities, you do not love the Jew within him, but rather you love his money or other things — but rather loves a fellow Jew because he is a Jew. And what makes a Jew unique? What is the difference between him and another person? A Jew has "a portion of G-d Above, truly"; he has a soul, the Divine part, which is the very essence of the Jew. It emerges, then, that when you love a fellow Jew, whom are you truly loving? The G-dliness within him, the Holy One, blessed be He, within him. Therefore, the deeper meaning of "and you shall love your fellow as yourself" is called "and you shall love the L-rd your G-d."
Several days after the Rebbe Rayatz delivered this talk, on the fifth night of Chanukah, he wrote a lengthy letter in which he set out to explain the teaching at length. He says there that on 19 Kislev we spoke about this point, and he explains at length: when it is written "your fellow," who is "your fellow"? There is a verse, "Your fellow and your father's fellow do not forsake," and "your fellow" is one of the appellations for the Holy One, blessed be He.
He explains at length that a Jew is not like, lehavdil, a non-Jew. The non-Jew, at most, can recognize and sense and understand the forces of nature — what is there called "Elokim," which is constricted into nature. But a Jew not only believes in the Name of Hashem, he actually senses the Name of Hashem, he senses that which is above nature. For a Jew, Elokus is "your fellow" — it is within the innermost core of his soul. And consequently, when a Jew fulfills "ve'ahavta le're'acha kamocha" (you shall love your fellow as yourself), then "your fellow" in its inner sense — who is that? The Holy One, blessed be He; even though in the plain meaning "your fellow" refers to your friend.
In one of the sichos, the Rebbe said that this matter is alluded to in Rashi's words in the Gemara. There is the well-known story in the Gemara about the gentile who came to Hillel and asked him to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot. What did Hillel tell him? "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow — this is the entire Torah." And all the commentators ask: how is the entire Torah connected to the matter of "what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow"? Let us grant that the mitzvos between man and his fellow are connected to this, but what does tefillin and mezuzah and the rest of the mitzvos between man and G-d have to do with "what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow," such that this should be called the entire Torah?
Rashi there in the Gemara brings two explanations: the first — that "rei'acha" (your fellow) refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, and he cites a verse for this, so that "ve'ahavta le'rei'acha kamocha" (love your fellow as yourself) includes all the mitzvot between man and G-d; and the second explanation — that "rei'acha" refers to one's friend, so that it includes all the mitzvot between man and his fellow. It turns out that both explanations in the revealed dimension of Rashi on the word "rei'acha" encompass what the Rebbe says here in the teaching — that "ve'ahavta le'rei'acha kamocha" in its inner meaning is "ve'ahavta et Hashem Elokecha" (love Hashem your G-d); for when one loves the inner essence of a Jew, one in fact loves the Holy One, blessed be He.