An Interesting thought from Reb Tzadok: When you love Israel, Israel loves you back. When you love the Torah, the Torah loves you back. Both of them reveal to their lover, their deepest secrets[1].
If someone loves the Torah, the Torah loves him back. This is conveyed in the verse (Mishlei 8:17) “I will love those who love me, and those who seek me eagerly will find me.” When a person loves the Torah, the Torah reveals to him her secrets—just as the beloved does for the lover.
Likewise, when someone loves Israel, the Jewish People love him back. This was exemplified by Aharon who is described in Avos (1:12 as “a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, one who loves the creatures.”
Because of this love, Israel loved him in return. When he passed away (Bamidbar, 20:29) “the entire house of Israel wept for Aharon for thirty days,” something that was not even done for Moshe after his passing. This is because, as the verse (Mishlei 27:19) says, “As in water, face answers to face, so is the heart of a man to a man.”
Just as the Torah reveals its secrets when it is loved, so too the Jewish people reveal the secrets of their souls, which are embedded in their hearts, to those that love them.
This idea is communicated in the verse (Shemos 28:29):
“Thus shall Aharon carry the names of the sons of Israel in the Choshen of Judgment (breastplate) over his heart when he enters the Holy, as a remembrance before the Lord at all times.“
A person’s name is expressive of their spiritual root.[2] By expressing that the names of Israel were upon Aharon’s heart, the verse articulates that because he loved them, he knew in his heart the secrets of their souls.
[1] Tzidkas HaTzadik, #199
[2] Tzidkas HaTzadik, #155, Tanya, Shar HaYichud VehaEmuna, Ch.1
