Since his body is despised and loathsome, he will not love himself on account of his body more than he loves his fellow,and as for the soul and spirit, the differences between his own soul and that of his fellow surely will not diminish the love between them, for who can know their (the soul and spirit’s) greatness and excellence in their source and root—the living G-d?
כִּי מֵאַחַר שֶׁגּוּפוֹ נִמְאָס וּמְתוֹעָב אֶצְלוֹ, וְהַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהָרוּחַ מִי יוֹדֵעַ גְּדוּלָּתָן וּמַעֲלָתָן בְּשָׁרְשָׁן וּמְקוֹרָן בֵּאלֹקִים חַיִּים.
How, then, can one claim that his soul is superior to his fellow’s?
Furthermore, they are actually all equal,;)and not only equal yet separate, but, furthermore, they all have one father—one source, and within their source, they all comprise one entity.
בְּשֶׁגַּם שֶׁכּוּלָּן מַתְאִימוֹת, וְאָב אֶחָד לְכוּלָּנָה,
It is on account of this common root in the One G-d that all of Israel are called “brothers”—in the full sense of the word, and not only figuratively, in the sense of “relatives” or “similar in appearance” and the like;;)
וְלָכֵן נִקְרְאוּ כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל "אַחִים" מַמָּשׁ, מִצַּד שׁוֹרֶשׁ נַפְשָׁם בַּה' אֶחָד
only the bodies are distinct from each other.
רַק שֶׁהַגּוּפִים מְחוּלָּקִים.
This explains how it is at all possible to demand that one love his fellow as he loves himself. Self-love is innate, natural to man; love for one’s fellow is not. How can a generated love match a natural one?
According to the principle stated here, this is readily understood. One Jew need not create a love for another. The love is an inborn characteristic of his soul on account of its root in G-dliness which is common to all souls; it is as natural as the love between brothers.
Therefore, there can be no true love and fraternity between those who regard their bodies as primary and their souls secondary but only a love based on an external factor.
וְלָכֵן, הָעוֹשִׂים גּוּפָם עִיקָּר וְנַפְשָׁם טְפֵלָה – אִי אֶפְשָׁר לִהְיוֹת אַהֲבָה וְאַחֲוָה אֲמִיתִּית בֵּינֵיהֶם, אֶלָּא הַתְּלוּיָה בְדָבָר לְבַדָּהּ.
Since the body separates us from each other, whereas the soul is that which binds us together, the greater value one places on his body at the expense of his soul, the more conscious he is of the differences between himself and his fellow. These differences require that he create a love for his fellow, and, as said above, a created love can never equal a natural, innate love. Therefore, love between people who consider their bodies as primarily important must be only a love based on some external factor, in which case the love is (a) limited to the importance of the motivating factor and (b) destined to endure only as long as that factor is valid.
Footnotes
2.
Note the discrepancy: In speaking of the souls of Israel in general, the Alter Rebbe first writes, “Who can know (‘can distinguish’) their greatness and excellence?” implying that there are in fact differences between one soul and another; here, he writes, “They actually are all equal.” The explanation: As discussed in ch. 2, the original source of all souls is the sefirah of chochmah in the World of Atzilut. On this level, all the souls are indeed one entity. This is indicated in the words, “They all have one father”—“father” ( Abba ) being the Kabbalistic term for chochmah. From this source, the souls progress downward through the various sefirot and Worlds. It is this descent that creates differences between souls; one soul is more strongly affected by the descent and another less so. The first stage in this descent is the sefirah of binah in the World of Atzilut; thus, it is at the level of binah that the differences between souls first appear. This is alluded to in the words, “Who can know their greatness and excellence in their source and root—the living G-d”; in Kabbalistic terminology, “the living G-d” is a reference to the level of binah in the World of Atzilut. Speaking of the souls at this level, the Alter Rebbe therefore says that feeling superior to one’s fellow is unjustified, because “who can know their greatness and excellence…?” There are indeed differences between souls—but who knows them? When speaking of the souls having “one father,” however, he writes that “they are all equal.”
3.
From a note by the Rebbe. (The two alternative meanings of “brothers” appear in the commentary of Rashi on Genesis 13:8.)