Rabbi Avi Weinstein

More On Rabbinic Love: A Keen Sense of the Obvious

In Brovender, Rabbinic Love on March 1, 2009 at 9:36 pm

My Rebbe Rabbi Chaim Brovender cryptically points out that in the 2nd Chapter of Pirkei Avot the following advice is given byof Rabban Gamliel the son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi:

..nullify your will in favor of His so that He will do the same… (Pirkei Avot 2:4)

So, the way he prescribes everyone to love the Holy One–i.e. unconditionally becomes a benchmark for how we evaluate our relationships and whether we own a love that will never be nullified.

It is a strange thing to get a message from your Rebbe which gives a reference and nothing more. I am, however grateful for the insight, even if there was an implicit rebuke for missing this obvious source. At first I thought I had given the wrong reference, but it turned out to be a more substantial comment than that. Well, once a student, always a student.

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