How can we love another Jew if we don’t know, or like, who we are inside?

In this heart-opening shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz brings us into the deepest chambers of Ahavat Yisrael: not as a social mission, but as a spiritual mirror. Before you can fulfill the mitzvah of loving another, you must first come face-to-face with the essence of your own soul.

Drawing from the Tanya, Rav Shlomo explores how real love, the kind that doesn’t depend on similarity, shared interests, or external traits, can only emerge from a life led by the nefesh Elokit (divine soul). When we stop identifying with our bodies, careers, or outer definitions and begin to see ourselves as precious, holy souls, we unlock the capacity to love anyone — simply because they are.

In this Shiur:

- Why most of us mistake self-acceptance for self-love
- How true happiness is born from identifying with the soul, not the body
- The difference between conditional love and soul-based connection
- What it means to look in the mirror and see not shame — but Shechinah
- The quiet joy of realizing: “It’s a pleasure to get to know myself — and to get to know you"

This shiur gently teaches that Ahavat Yisrael isn’t about fixing others. It’s about unearthing the divine spark within ourselves, and letting that love extend naturally outward. Once you begin living from the soul, every person becomes a new opportunity to say: “It’s a joy to get to know you.”