The disinterested Love in the Mishna.
The Mishna 16, Chapter 5 of Pirkei Avot says the following:
“Every love which depends on one thing, when the thing disappears, love disappears, but if it does not depend on one thing, it never goes away …”
Every Love that depends on one thing, when the thing disappears, love disappears; love is not sustainable if it is based on calculations of interest or is inspired by the beauty, as in the case of love between a man and a woman, because if the money dries up, if beauty fades, love dies. “At the door of shops, many brothers and friends, but at the door of the poor no brothers or friends” (Shabbat 32a). ‘
Bartenoura said that if the cause has such character, love will disappear, but if it is sustainable, it will be not time-limited. And he gives as an example the love of the wise and righteous that is not intended to stop. Similarly R. Simcha says: … If it does not depend on one thing, that is to say we shall love without expectation of profit, but because we feel spiritually close or drawn by the beauty of nature – all things that are not ephemeral. This is also the kind of love that man must feel for his Creator: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your ways” (Deut 6:5).
Source: The Mishnah: Pirke Avot. Directed by Michel R. Guggenheim.
