One of life’s most profound lessons came to me when I was a boy. My parents separated, and my father brought a new puppy into his apartment and into our lives. I responded with guilt, wouldn’t loving this puppy betray the older dog I already loved? My father assured me that our hearts can hold an infinite amount of love: love is never displaced by additional love; it is enhanced, because all of our different loves are expressions of the one embracing love.That same simple lesson emerges from Jewish teaching as well. The great Hassidic master, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, teaches, “Whether one really loves God can be determined by the love borne toward others.” The philosopher Martin Buber insists, “If you wish to believe, love! He who loves brings God and the world together.” Our hearts can hold an infinite amount of love. Our job, during the month of Elul and throughout our lives, is to increase love in the world for ourselves, for each other, for the marginalized and forgotten, for creation and for the Holy One. If you wish to believe, love!
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and Vice President at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. www.bradartson.com
