Love for Torah scholars and God fearing Jews also stems from love of the Holy One, blessed is He. For when somebody loves another person, he doesn’t only love that person—he loves that person’s whole family. Also, when somebody intensely loves someone and really wants only the best for that person, then he also loves anybody that does good and brings pleasure to the one he so intensely loves. One must therefore love Torah scholars and [other] God-fearing Jews, since they are the ones who bring pleasure to the Holy One. Common sense tells us that we ought to love those special people who have perfected their character traits and outlook, even if we have not yet perfected our own. So, for all these reasons, we should arouse our love for Torah scholars, God-fearing Jews and all others who have Hashem on their minds. We should love them like the apple of our eye. Now, the reward for this love is immediate, as our Sages said, for whoever loves Torah scholars merits having children who are themselves Torah scholars (Shabbos 23b).
Wednesday
ה' תשרי התשפ"ז
