The prerequisite of love is a state of separateness.
Rabbi Laibl Wolf explains how reciprocity provides the capacity to lift each other up. He explores the historical period from the 1500s until around 1900, a time of great economic privation for the Jews, resulting in a general feeling of depression. The Baal Shem Tov was able to turn around the emotional state of the common Jew and open them up to love for Hashem, mitzvahs and each other. Rabbi Wolf explains how to achieve reflected love in marriage and other close relationships.
