This statement of our sages demands explanation. Because the word law indicates a sum of details that when put together form the above whole. It turns out that when he says about the Mitzva of “love thy friend as thyself” that it is a great rule in the Torah, we must understand that all other 612 Mitzvot (precepts) in the Torah with all their interpretations are no more and no less than the sum of the details inserted and contained in that single Mitzva of “love thy friend as thyself”. This is quite perplexing, because you can say that regarding precepts between man and man, but how can that single precept contain within it all the precepts between man and God, which are the vast majority of the precepts?..
This is to speak of the bond when all of Israel became responsible for one another. Because the Torah was not given to them before each of them was asked if he would take upon himself the Mitzva (precept) of loving others in the full measure expressed in the words: “Love thy friend as thyself”. That means that each and every one in Israel took upon himself to care and work for each member of the nation and satisfy their every need; no less than the amount imprinted in him to care for his own needs...
But since I am not an enthusiast of formative philosophy, as I dislike studies that are theoretically based, and it is well known that most of my contemporaries agree with me, for we are too experienced with such foundations and know them to be rickety, and when the foundation fluctuates, the whole construction tumbles down. Therefore, I have come here to speak only through critique of empiric reason, starting from the simple recognition no one disagrees with, through proving analytically, until we come to determining the uppermost topic. And it will be tested synthetically by seeing how His work is confirmed and reaffirmed by simple recognition from the practical aspect...
These words need to be clarified. Because how is the matter of reception of the Torah related to one’s freedom from death? Furthermore, once they have attained an eternal body that cannot die, through the reception of the Torah, how did they lose it again, can the eternal become absent?
It is known that the desired purpose from the work in Torah and Mitzvot is to cleave unto the Creator, as it is written, “and to cleave unto Him.” We should understand what Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator means. After all, the thought has no perception of Him whatsoever. Indeed, our sages have discussed this question before me, asking about the verse, “and to cleave unto Him”: “How can one cleave unto Him? After all, He is consuming fire.”
The above statement, although it is one of the most famous and cited sayings, it is still unexplained to everyone with all its vastness. That is because the word rule (or collective) indicates a sum of details that relates to the above rule, that each and every detail carries a part within it in a way that the gathering of all the details together creates that rule (or collective)...
There is an allegory about friends who were lost in the desert, hungry and thirsty. One of them had found a settlement filled abundantly with every delight. He remembered his poor brothers, but he had already drawn far off from them and did not know their place. What did he do? He began to shout out loud and blow the horn; perhaps his poor hungry friends would hear his voice, approach and come to that abundant settlement filled with every delight...
Everything in reality, good and bad, and even the most harmful in the world has a right to exist and should not be eradicated from the world and destroyed. We must only mend and reform it, because any observation on the work of creation is enough to teach us about the greatness and perfection of its operator and creator. Therefore, we must understand and be very careful when casting a flaw in any detail of reality, any item of creation, and say that it’s redundant and superfluous, as that would be slander about its operator...