אַהֲבַת חִנָּם

ביטוי (אנגלית)

Unconditional love / Love without cause

הגדרה (אנגלית)

Love without a specific reason. Love for people simply as human beings. The desire to help and assist others without needing a justification. The expression is the complete opposite of "baseless hatred," which is said to have caused the destruction of the Second Temple.

("If we were destroyed, and the world was destroyed with us, through baseless hatred – we shall rebuild, and the world with us will be built, through unconditional love." – Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook / Orot HaKodesh, 3:28; and: "The Sages decreed – destruction occurred because of baseless hatred… May we merit to fulfill 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' also in the sense of unconditional love, and through it, bring closer the rebuilding of the chosen house, speedily in our days, Amen." – Shu”t Yachal Yisrael, Siman 13; and: "I passed by the school where I studied in my youth… Here I learned some things / and did not learn other things. All my life I have loved unmotivated love / the things I did not learn." – Yehuda Amichai / Israeli Journey)