Love and Hate Break Boundaries: Do you dare breach the walls of your heart?

Love and hate break boundaries.

    - Midrash Rabbah 55:8

Hate breaks the boundaries of the ordinary. It empowers us to do the impossible.

Hate will make us do remarkable things. Hate will blind us to our own faults. Hate will give us superhuman strength and stamina. Hate will get us up early in the morning to pursue the hated and keep us up late a night thinking of how to harm them. Hate will make us do incredibly self-destructive things. We will tear apart our own world to get at the one we hate.  We will destroy everything and sacrifice anything for hate.

And love breaks the boundaries of the ordinary. It empowers us to do the impossible.  Love will help us to see ourselves in the mirrors of our beloved’s eyes.  Love will give us superhuman strength and stamina. Love will get us up early to do good for our beloved and keep us up late at night thinking of how to please them. Love will make us heal and build. We will beautify our whole world to make it fit for our love. We will do everything and sacrifice anything for love.

The imperative to “Love your neighbor as yourself” or "to want for others what you want for yourself" is God's boldest dare to humanity, the challenge to break the boundaries of our own hearts.  If we don't, the world is terrifying.  And if we do? Love won't solve the big problems. It won't stop poverty, oppression, or violence against the innocents of this world this instant. In the end maybe opened hearts, and minds and ears will.  It is just a start. An experiment.  A direction. A dim flicker of light in a world that seems pitch black. I am going to try to take the dare and see what happens. I hope maybe you will too.