Questions re: the Kavanah on Loving your fellow as yourself

[Aharon Varady]

I'm looking to the list for more information on the source for saying a Kavanah (self-focused intentional meditation), to take upon oneself the obligatory mitzvah of loving your fellow as yourself. It's really beautiful and I only began to hear this in Renewal circles. There, I was told that the origin of the kavvanah was the Ari z"l. It also appears just before Psukei D'zimra in Reb Zalman's Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yedaber Pi:

I accept upon myself
the command
to love my neighbor as myself.

In Hebrew sources, it appears as such:

הריני מקבל עלי מצוות עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך


And at Teva Learning Center (at Isabella Freedman), I heard a variant which I bet is also popular at a number of summer camps and day schools:

הריני מקבל עלי את מצוות חבורה ואהבת לרעך כמוך

In transliteration it goes like this:

Hareini mikabel alai et mitzvat chubureh, V'Ahavta L'Reiakha Komakha.

I searched online for the use of the term חבורה (Chabureh) to describe this mitzvah, and came up short, so I'm wondering where that innovation came from too.

For those interested, the kavanah is often sung as a replacement/variation of the second part of the popular song "Deep Inside My Heart", below. (For extra points, I'd love to be able to attribute authorship to this song as well).

Thanks all.

Aharon



Deep Inside My Heart

Deep inside my heart I've got this
everlasting light that's shining
like the sun it radiates on everyone

And the more that I give the more I've got to give
It's the way that I live
and it's what I'm living for.

[Michael Ross]

Hi Aharon,

This kavanah is also in sim shalom prior to early morning torah study.

(P. 63 of the Shabbat slim shalom.)

In Kol Haneshamah, (p. 151) we use alternative language: leshem yichud kudshabrich hu…)

Additionally, the term is ha-borei. (The Creator)

Blessings,

Michael

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rabbi Michael Ross

cell: 310.569.6329 

home: 610.933.7981

skype: rabbimichaelross

mike...@balgroup.com

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[Aharon Varady]

On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 3:39 PM, Michael Ross <mike...@balgroup.com> wrote:

Hi Aharon,

This kavanah is also in sim shalom prior to early morning torah study.

(P. 63 of the Shabbat slim shalom.)

In Kol Haneshamah, (p. 151) we use alternative language: leshem yichud kudshabrich hu…)

Additionally, the term is ha-borei. (The Creator)

Thanks Michael. That makes more sense!
הריני מקבל (מקבלת) עלי מצות הבורא: ואהבת לרעך כמוך׃

Does anyone know the source for calling this mitzvah the "mitzvah haboreh." (Aren't all the mitzvot, "mitzvot haboreh"?)

If we could find the original source, we could attribute this custom and determine which was the original and which the variation.

הריני מקבל עלי (את) מצוות עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך


Aharon

[David A.M. Wilensky]

Oh! I was familiar with the longer version of the kavanah from the Kirtan Rabbi album,"Kirtan Rabbi Live!" on the track titled "Love Thy Neighbor ואהבת לרעך כמוך"

--
David A.M. Wilensky

The Reform Shuckle

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[Efraim Feinstein]

On 04/15/2011 01:01 PM, David A.M. Wilensky wrote:

Oh! I was familiar with the longer version of the kavanah from the Kirtan Rabbi album,"Kirtan Rabbi Live!" on the track titled "Love Thy Neighbor ואהבת לרעך כמוך"

It's considerably older than that. It appears (with the variant מצות עשה) in a Chabad siddur (as something that is "proper to say" before מה טובו) as early as 1896. Probably earlier, I just haven't searched through all of them. :-)

If you do want to find the history of the phrase, tracing back Chassidic siddurim is probably the way to go.

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Efraim Feinstein
Lead Developer
Open Siddur Project
http://opensiddur.net
http://wiki.jewishliturgy.org

[David A.M. Wilensky]

Oh, I figured, given this discussion that I predates the KR album I mentioned, but I had only heard in that context before.

BTW, everyone, I'm posting this query on my blog, where there are enough liturgy geeks that I can sometimes find answers this sort of question.

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David A.M. Wilensky

The Reform Shuckle

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[Isabel de Koninck]

Just a quick note that Art Green indicates in his comment on the kavanah in question (in its printing in Kol Haneshama) that the kavanah goes back to the kabbalist in tzfat.  Someone connected to him might just ask him what his citation is for that attribution.

Isabel de Koninck

Hillel of Greater Philadelphia

[Aharon Varady]

Much thanks to Eric Friedland and Shmueli Gonzales for providing guidance and sleuthing out references.

Eric Friedland writes:

הריני מקבל עלי (את) מצוות עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך׃

It's taken from the work, Kavvanot ha-Ari (כוונות האר’’י).

 

הריני מקבל (מקבלת) עלי מצות הבורא: ואהבת לרעך כמוך׃

Emended conceivably to tone down the legalism of מצוות עשה (mitsvat 'aseh) or to obviate any misunderstanding of the rabbinic phrase.

Shmueli <kosher...@yahoo.com> writes:

i haven't found the source for the "haborei" variation. however, I have been looking up the sources for this kavanah.

Online in many studies and topical treatments of selected prayers have I have found this this piece recommended by Rav  Yaakov Chaim Sofer and Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai, however without citing any source or showing any reference material. however for the most part the siddurim I've seen, and even in an article written by Aiden Steinsaltz in Hebrew, the Ari"zal is credited with this piece. The source that is cited most often in siddurim is Shaarei haKavannot but I have yet to find the actual reference.

I am most familiar with the Chabad custom, which the Alter Rebbe attributes to the Ari"zal himself.

הַרֵינִי מְקַבֵּל עָלַי מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ:¹

Ish Matzliach (based on Ben Ish Chai), appears as follows:

הֲרֵינִי מְקַבֵּל עָלַי מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל: וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ, וַהֲרֵינִי אוֹהֵב כָּל אֶחָד מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּנַפְשִׁי וּמְאוֹדִי, וַהֲרֵינִי מְזַמֵּן אֶת פִּי לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים, הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא:

Probably the oldest siddur that i know of that cites the Ari"zal is Siddur Tefilah Yeshorah:

בספר כוונת האר״י ז״ל כתוב קולם כל תפלה יחבל עליו מצוח

עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך . ויכוץ לאהוב כל אחל מישראל כנפשו ואם יש איזה צרה מ"ו בביתו או בבניו ישתתף בצערו

ויתפלל עליו ״ הו סגולה אמית:ת שיקובל תפלתו כמו תפלת כל ישראל:

ע״כ יאמר פסוק זה :

הריני מקבל עלי מצות עשה של ואהבת לרעך כמוך:

page 31

Date: 1820

http://hebrewbooks.org/7190

1Leviticus 19:18

Where does this leave us?

1) It would be great to find the exact reference in כוונות האר’’י.
2) Still unclear where the "mitzva haboreh" replaces the "mitvat aseh."
3) Given "mitzvah haboreh" appears in the two American siddurim, it would be interesting to discover whether the variation occurs first in Recon or Conservative siddurim.


I think it might be helpful to also check the siddur of Rabbi Shalom Sharabi (1720-1777) the Siddur Edut beYehosef. Since Sharabi represents the Yemenite Shami tradition, if his siddur shows this, I think that would definitely indicate how this tradition is widespread in the followers of the Ari z"l, independent of 18th century European Hassidut.


Aharon

[chayim]

Yitzhak Buxbaum's excellent anthology entitled Jewish Spiritual
Practices quotes the following two sources. Hope this helps the
tracing-back process!

(Page 115, under the heading, "5:1:16 Love and Forgiveness")
-Before you begin your prayers in the synagogue you should receive on
yourself to fulfill the commandment "you shall love your neighbor as
yourself" (The Ari Hakodesh, Minhagei ha-Arizal--Petura d'Abba, p.3b)

(Page 116, under the heading, "5:1:17 Join with All Israel and with
the Tzaddikim")
-I accept on myself the commandment "and you shall love your neighbor
as yourself"--and after saying this, join in complete love with the
holy souls of the tzaddikim of the generation whose visages you know,
and picture them before you in your imagination at this time. (Yosher
Divrei Emet, #33)


Best,
Andrew Shaw

[Shmueli]

I'm pretty familiar with most of the Kitvei Ari. There aren't very many of them, because the Ari”zal was only alive in Tzfat as the great teacher we think of for two short years. As he never wrote any of the texts that his teachings would make famous, for the most part all the work was done by his student Chaim Vital. However, those who studied in Tzfat as part of the chavurah of kabbalist often became familiar with the teachings from oral teaching. So when we read in the siddurim “b'pi ha-Ari'zal” they are actually being quiet literal in that many teachings were passed orally. Though I do not know of any work specifically titled just simply Kavvanot Ha-Ari, I have been searching through his most central work for liturgical purposes called Sha'arei Ha-Kavanot. This work is one of the most cited texts and is cited in a few siddurim, however the pages and volume of the editions I have found are different so its taking a lot of reading. This work is most cited by the kabbalists that came after him. Among them being the Chida, who studied in Tzfat and had a total devotion to the teachings of Vital. The Chida also claimed to have seen several texts that appear only in manuscript form that were never published. The Chida would be a great influence the Ben Ish Chai, who would later be the teacher of Yaakov Chaim Sofer (the Kaf ha-Chaim). So when these rabbis are cited in all these different siddurim as recommending we say this kavanah they are actually just passing on the teachings of the Ari passed from master to student, with lack of citation it just gets attributed to them. This is how this prayer would spread from Poland to Persia.

I'll keep looking until I find the source. But from what I'm reading in commentary it appears that the general opinion is that from לשם on is written by the Ari”zal. Many mizrahi siddurim will even go asd far as writing in the liturgy the words “Zeh lishon ha-ari” right before it starts the yichud for tefillin with the word לשם and continues on for several paragraphs, one of them being this text of הריני מקבל. Thus it is my understanding that in legal works (Kaf haChaim, commentary on the Shulchan Aruch) it thus mentions this the section related to the kavanot for tefillin.

Now the Siddur Tefilah Yeshorah is the siddur of the Berditchev Chassidim, but it is a classic Ari”zal text in that it mostly contains kavvanot and commentary, it is not really usable as a davening siddur.But its is interesting to see this appear as early as 1820 and it cites the Ari"zal long before many of the other rabbis lived and were published. 

When it comes to the variance in the words עֲשֵׂה/הבורא, it could be nothing more than a way of simplifying the text, I would agree. One of the things that is most often noted by people who work with liturgy is that these kavvanot heavily rely on the words of the Zohar and the Rambam in their tone. So mitzvah aseh along the lines of the Rambam, means a “positive commandment.” It is just one mitzvah, there are 612 more, but this one is equivalent to them all (remember Rav Akiva, who stated to the convert on one foot that after loving G-d, loving your fellow was equivalent to the rest of Torah), so we should start here. It drives home the point that we are actively working to do the mitzvah of love, it's not just good enough for us to not hate someone. The Torah isn't summed up by things not to do, above all we are called to actively love. It should also be noted that in the Ari"zal siddurim that are heavy on kavanot they tend to divide up the service by the levels of the kabbalistic 4 worlds (see Sefer Yitzerah), right after this prayer the service moves into the "the world of assiyah," which is the level of existence that is related to action and the physical world.

I find the alternatives very interesting, Which is it; הבורא (the creator) or חבורה (to group, join, add, combine) in the alternate versions? I find the latter tantalizing.

I''ll keep siddur surfing until  I find something.

[Dalia Marx]

Shalom Aharon,
Rabbi Hayim Vital wrote about his master's custom to recite this kavanah every morning in his "Sefer haKAvanot":

קודם שהאדם יסדר תפילתו בבית הכנסת... צריך שיקבל עליו מצוָת ואהבת לרעך כמוך ויכוין לאהוב כל אחד מבני ישראל כנפשו. כי על ידי זה תעלה תפילתו כלולה מכל תפילות ישראל ותוכל לעלות למעלה ולעשות פרי ובפרט אהבת החברים העוסקים בתורה ביחד. צריך כל אחד ואחד לכלול עצמו כאלו הוא אבר אחד מן החברים שלו... ואם יש איזה חבר מהם בצרה צריכים כולם לשתף עצמם בצערו (דרושי השחר א, ע"ב).

I find this passage extremely moving  and wrote about it briefly in my book: בעת אישן ואעירה, p. 64-65.

Pesach sameach

Dalia

 

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הרבה דר' דליה מרקס

[Hinda Tzivia Eisen]

Hi all,

I'm new to this listserv so let me introduce myself -- I'm Hinda Eisen... I'm a cantorial student (almost-cantor!) at Hebrew College in Newton, MA, and I am a prayer-lover, prayer-writer, and generally love to be inspired by t'fillah.

I happened on this thread today, and was wondering whether it had been resolved. Aharon told me it hadn't been, so here are my two cents:

The source that is at http://hebrewbooks.org/37181 is the D'vash VeChalav (by Yekutiel Weiss, Buenos Aires, 1941) says "yesh tsorekh la'ahavah, lekayyem mitzvat habore, ve'ahavta lerei'akha kamokha". See p. 547. Possibly this is the source? I don't know if it's quoting something else.

Hope this is helpful!

Hinda