Cords of Love

27 Adar I 5782

“And they prepared the shoham stones, enclosed in gold settings, engraved [similar to] the engravings of a seal, with the names of the sons of Israel.” (Shemos 39:6)

“Some of Jacob’s sons were singled out for leadership roles: Judah was the father of the royal line of David, Levi was the father of the priests, and Joseph was selected to lead the family after Jacob’s death. Nonetheless, the names of Jacob’s sons were inscribed on the Ephod’s two shoulder stones in the order of their birth, rather than in the order of their importance or prestige. This underscores their common, unifying factor – the fact that they are all Jacob’s sons.

Jacob was the only patriarch whose children all remained faithful to the Divine mission and ideology that Abraham began. All of Jacob’s sons learned how to channel their individual differences and strengths toward perpetuating Judaism. This unity made their inscribed names a source of merit for us as the high priest entered the Tabernacle to represent us before G‑d. Just as parents are happy to grant their children’s wishes when they all cooperate lovingly, G‑d is more ready to shower us with His beneficence when we follow in the footsteps of Jacob’s sons and unite in our devotion to the ideals of Judaism.”

“Hillel said, ‘Be one of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving creatures and drawing them near to the Torah.’ This means that even those who are far from G‑d’s Torah and His service, for which reason they are classified simply as ‘creatures’ one must attract with strong cords of love.”

Even those whose only merit is that they are G‑d’s creations we are obligated to love and draw near. And as the Tanya continues, “Even if one fails [to draw them close to the Torah], he has not forfeited the merit of the mitzvah of neighborly love, which he has fulfilled by his efforts in this direction,” thereby creating the unity that the Rebbe explains above is so crucial to drawing Divine favor upon the Jewish people.

“A song of ascents, by David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together … Like the dew of Hermon which comes down upon the mountains of Zion, for there the L‑rd has commanded blessing, life unto eternity.” (Tehillim 133:1&3)

It is good and pleasant when brothers dwell together, it is like the dew of Hermon, because in it is the L‑rd’s blessing. When the people of Israel are joined together through “strong cords of love” they elicit tremendous Divine blessing and favor, more than the strictest individual observance of mitzvos or the deepest study of Torah ever could.