Yesterday we mentioned a very deep point from Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein- that in order to reach Avahat Yisrael or loving anyone else, you must first be comfortable with yourself. If you aren’t comfortable with yourself, you can’t possibly love anybody else. Rav Levenstein bases this on the story of Kayin and Hevel. God told Kayin, “ Why are you upset? Why has your face dropped?” Kayin was jealous of Hevel because Hevel’s korban was accepted. He was jealous because Hevel had sur passed him in religion. This suggests that he was a good man, and that he wanted to be better, but ultimately, it turned into murder. The Torah tells us this story to teach us a lesson: It can happen to anybody. Our Middot become aroused when we don’t have inner peace, and we aren’t happy with what we are doing. However, says Rav Levenstein, it’s a tight rope: On one hand, we have to be happy with our situation physically and spiritually, but at the same time we have to continue to grow. This is not really a contradiction. In business, we have to celebrate our accomplishments while still trying to grow the business at the same time. Rav Ades once said that a person can’t just go to his accountant and talk about the money that he lost. If he doesn’t also mention the money that he made, he can’t run a business. Rav Yehezkiel says, in very strong words, “ Reshit Avodah/ The first step, in our service of God, is to be happy with our situation. And if you don’t serve God with happiness, there is no hope. Heaven forbid, who knows what level you will drop to. This concept is a novel point for many people. We think that the main thing is the service of God but not the happiness around it or celebrating the accomplishments.” We can connect this to Hanukkah, where the obligation is to say Hallel and thank Hashem, and to be happy. We have to appreciate what we are doing, we have to appreciate the smallest of things, and celebrate them. That will bring us to Ve’Ahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha/loving others like we love ourselves . If we are full of negativity, we can’t possibly love anybody else. It might seem counterintuitive, but by focusing on loving and being happy with myself, I can love others.