Tutto l'amore che dipende da una cosa passeggera —una volta che la cosa passa, passa l'amore; e (tutto l'amore) che non dipende da una cosa che passa [come l'amore di tzaddikim e dei saggi] non passa mai. Cos'è l'amore che dipende da una cosa passeggera? Il livello di Amnon e Tamar, [Amnon ama Tamar per la sua bellezza]. E (che cos'è l'amore) che non dipende da una cosa passeggera? L'amore di David e Jonathan [per soddisfare la volontà del loro Maestro. Jonathan disse a David (I Samuele 23:17): "Sarai il re su Israele e io sarò il tuo viceré".
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
ויאהב יצחק את עשו כי ציד בפיו ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב. We have an allusion here to the well-known statement in Avot 5,19 that any love which is based on something material will not endure once the object upon which it is based disappears, whereas love which is not based on something transient will endure. Isaac's love for Esau was founded on the material things Esau provided, and therefore it could not endure. This may well be the reason the Torah describes Isaac's love for Esau in the past tense, i.e. ויאהב, whereas Rebeccah's love for Jacob is described in the present tense, i.e. אוהבת, an ongoing love.
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Mesilat Yesharim
This love certainly must not be a "love which depends on something" (Avot 5:16). Namely, that one should love the blessed Creator, not because He bestows good to him and grants him wealth and success. Rather, it should be like the love of a son for his father, which is actually (mamash) a natural love, to which the son's nature compels and forces him to this. As scripture states: "is He not your Father, your Master?" (Devarim 32:6).
