unlimited love

The latest postings have triggered a subject that is a matter of controversy. In eastern thought there is an illustration of unlimited love of the heart of a mother killed by her own son to appease the son's jealous lover. As the son brings his mother's heart to his mate he trips at the entrance,to which the heart queries "did you get hurt my son?"
The story implies that a mother's heart is true to her child no matter what . In the Book of Eichah
Chapter 4 Verse 10 states that "compassionate women cooked their own children"! In other words,
the love of a mother also has a limit. So how do we understand the mothering instinct that allows a parent to risk life and limb for a child? Is it only to a certain point? Is there such a thing as unlimited love?
The answer seems to be that the instinct of survival is greater than the instinct of protection if the threat of death is a certainty and the individual feels that there is no other choice. Where there is choice , the parent will opt to save his child at the expense of his life. If they will both die and the individual is in the throes of extreme pain, then not even the love for a child will stand in the way.
At least that is what the prophet reports . This is also found in Parshas Ki Siso regarding the selfishness of a starved mother who will feed herself instead of her children.Again this in the state where the person cannot think to choose. Rather, the person continues by instinct. At that state survival is stronger says the Torah.
Therefore, the unlimited love that the ancients argued about cannot be found in physical love.
Rather, it has to be the love of a soul that senses the value of the other soul and is ready to give one's life for it. This can be found in the willingness of a child to die for a parent in order to save the parent from prison and the like as described by the Zohar. Even in that case,the overriding sense would not be natural love but rather a deep spiritual attachment that is Torah based not instinctive. It is for this reason that King David's love for Jonathan is the one extolled as an eternal love. What is behind this love?
The Arizal explains that David's love for Jonathan was that of a Rav for his student. He says that the love of a parent only affects the Nefesh, the lowest rung of the chain of the soul root of the person. The love of a Rav and a Talmid through Torah affects the next level of soul called the Ruach. This love is not dependant upon a physical relationship or condition, As such it can be everlasting.
This explains another difficult concept in Chassidic lore. The Alter Rebbe , the Baal HaTanya said that Reb Boruch of Mezbitz was only a grandchild of the Baal Shem Tov in the physical . He, however, was a grandchild in the spirit.
This requires clarification, for the very teachings of Chassidus extolls the superiority of the child's connection to the essence of the parent over that of the stuident whop only receives a ray of the Rav's personna vis a vis his lectures, no matter how profound ?
The answer is given by The Rebbe in Likutey Sichos that through devotion to the essential teachings of the Rav , the student can actually become more profoundly attached than a child.
This is only where the relationship isn't just intellectual-rather it becomes spiritual. This is when the spirit or purpose of the Rav becomes the spirit of the student. At that point the love of student is greater than that of a child, unless of course the child becomes a student as well. The Rebbe goes on to explain that this is only through Torah. For only in Torah is it possible to express one's essence through his Torah teachings . This is because G-D Himself put G-D's Essence into the Torah. Therefore, all other great teachers of Torah could place the essence of their being which is above the capacity of a physical child to receive in body , into their Torah teachings!

Thus when husband and wife share a bond of purpose within a Torah life , their love becomes everlasting.