Love your fellow Jew as yourself - bearing the burden of confusion of mind for being alive with free will?

When we are two years old, we learn the word NO and enter into a development of what appears to be autonomous existence. The word No is our first experience with power. We have a choice, or so it seems, regarding what happens. And if we don’t want something or if we do, we can take actions toward our goals.

Is there an end to the imaginings of what we desire? What boundaries are there in what we can or can’t do to see that our vision is achieved in reality?

All of these skills and executive functioning activities necessary for life need a very important context.   That context is to know how to submit to the reality that the Source for everything is Hashem, not our imagination, not our own doings.  There is a necessary cushion of emunah that is crucial through which intellect and imagination must be grounded.

But we forget. Probably more often than we remember Hashem we forget He is in the picture. And this causes us to blame others, stripping them of divine dignity with our reducing their value. And then we shame them, getting angry, speaking badly of them,virtually annihilating them.  This causes so much pain, negativity, resentment and darkness.

When we do this, when we forget Hashem is the Source of all Vitality and that happiness and pleasure come from learning Torah, emulating Hashem’s attributes of mercy, giving love and value knowing our survival is in Hashem’s Hands, WE are suffering from confusion of mind. We believe the amazing illusion that free will is designed to create, and that illusion is that the “me” is autonomous from Hashem. Thinking we are autonomous from Hashem is often caused by cynicism, a doubt regarding Hashem’s reality in every moment, Gd forbid.   Most of us realize we fall into that trap repeatedly throughout the day. Consciousness of Hashem and having Hashem before our eyes is something we have to train ourselves in, and it still fades when emotions are high, when the world of action is providing stimulation and challenge.  Spiritual training is all towards learning to keep Hashem in the center of our consciousness throughout the day.

How do we handle the confusion of other people when THEY fall into this?

Perhaps this gives new insight into the idea of love your fellow Jew as yourself. Just as we enjoy Hashem’s compassion when we fall into confusion of mind and act without full consciousness of Hashem’s presence with us in the moment, so too those around us fall into the same human frailty, by Hashem’s design. Thus emulating Hashem’s mercy in bearing the discomfort of the confusion of mind of those who insult us, hurt our feelings, don’t properly recognize our value and more, becomes an action reflective of our understanding of our own vulnerability to that matter. And when we are able to forgive it in others, it is because we love ourselves the same way, and appreciate so much that Hashem tolerates our confusion until we see our mistake and correct it.  Thank you Hashem!
 Loving our fellow Jew means understanding that we are all confused by Hashem's design of human nature.  Even if we believe we sometimes transcend and someone else does not, bearing confusion of mind creates positive influence because we are emulating Hashem’s mercy, and being aligned with His Mercy places us in a calm inner space glued to His Attributes. From there, we can interact revealing Hashem’s glory.  Having the certainty that whatever happens is from Hashem, is good, and our happiness and pleasure come from THERE rather than the resolution or complication of the circumstance takes emunah but gives us access to true happiness and pleasure, no matter how illogical that may seem to the natural part of our mind. Hashem takes our positive influence and creates the next moment. This is important to understand.

Love your fellow Jew as yourself is the whole of Torah because Hashem bears the burden of OUR confusion of mind and when we do so, we  emulate Him and treat our fellow Jew with awareness of their divine dignity, albeit they might be confused in the moment. Welcome to the club! Treating each other with divine dignity creates positive influence for all. Effort in emulating Hashem to create positive influence is the real basis for esteem, happiness and pleasure.

Let’s break the blame, shame cycle of kidnapped pleasure and happiness. And may the koach from the natural reactions we make an effort to transcend become the concrete walls and new wiring of neuropathways delivering into our hearts and into our speech and deeds revelation of Hashem’s Glory.

May the light we are able to reflect like the moon reflecting the sun be a merit for all Klal Yisrael.