We have been talking about how a person can dislike someone because of that person surpassing him in religion.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein points out that this is actually found in pesukim of the Torah. In Parashat Vayikrah (כו,יד) it talks about the sins that lead up to the Tochechah/the admonition, where God speaks of eventually destroying the Bet HaMikdash and sending the Jews into exile.
It says, וְאִם־לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ לִי
..you don’t listen to Me
Rashi explains that this means not toiling in Torah
Then it says, וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ
You don’t do…
Because if you don’t learn, you don’t do.
Then it says, וְאִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַי תִּמְאָסוּ
You will be disgusted by My statutes,
Rashi explains that this means
you will the hate the other people that are doing it.
It then goes on to describe hating rabbis, preventing others from doing, denying that the Mitzvot are from God… and eventually, coming to deny God.
It’s a seven-step downward process. Each one causes the other, says Rashi.
And where did it all start?
With not toiling in Torah.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein explains that this means not fulfilling your own mission. Since you feel down that you aren’t doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you aren’t happy with yourself. And because you are not happy with yourself, your jealousy of the other person turns into hatred. You start to dislike the person because he is surpassing you. Instead of looking into and fixing yourself, you dislike him. Eventually, you dislike the rabbis that are guiding you, and it spirals downward to hating God.
And it all came from being unhappy with yourself. This is a deep psychological concept. Rav Levenstein says that the first thing that you have to do is to be happy with yourself, physically and religiously.
Of course, we have to get better, but we have to be happy with where we are at the moment. We have to uproot the negativity.
He says, “The foundation of all bad Middot is a lack of inner satisfaction,” from not being happy with oneself.
If you are happy with yourself, then everything turns around. This is what the avodah/work is.
When we talk about Ahavat Yisrael/Loving your fellow Jew, we have to love ourselves first. Because if you don’t love yourself, and you aren’t happy with yourself, you can’t love anybody else.