The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Vayikra 19:17, the Torah states לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ. But why specifically is one forbidden to hate in one's heart?
R' Frand first answered by quoting the Rambam who writes that one who hates someone in his heart without revealing it violates the pasuk, as there is a positive commandment to tell a person who is doing something wrong about the wrongful act and it comes from the end of the pasuk - הוֹכֵ֤חַ תּוֹכִ֨יחַ֙ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ.
R' Frand also said a more drush based vort on the pasuk. He painted the following picture - there is a guy in your shul who constantly talks during Chazaras HaShatz. Every tefillah. Every day. You know its wrong and it drives you up a wall. Or someone else who every time he has Yahrtzeit has to daven for the amud on Shabbos and sing every possible song, even though he does not have a particularly nice voice and he adds extra time to davening.
You know that what the first guy is doing is halachically wrong and what the second guy is doing is a tircha, because you have an understanding in your heart of what is right and what is wrong, whereas these other people do not. The prohibition of לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ teaches that one should not hate someone else because of your heart - because you get it and he does not.
R' Frand said a second vort on the mitzva of Orlah. The Torah gives the rules of this mitzva in Vayikra 19:23-25 which discusses how the fruit of the first three years cannot be consumed, the fourth year fruit has special kedusha and the fifth year can be eaten without restriction. Rashi explains that if a person properly observes the first four years, Hashem will provide a bountiful crop in year five. Rashi quotes R' Akiva saying R' Akiva Haya Omer that the Torah spoke against the Yetzer Hara of a person, that a person should not say, I wasted four years.
R' Frand asked - why does this mitzva need the reinforcement vs the Yetzer Hara. He gave the example of the recent Pesach holiday where people spend major $$ on matza and all the yom tov meals. Why is it that there is no reinforcement where we are told that there will be a financial windfall later in the year?
R' Frand answered by quoting the Tolner Rebbi who explains that the difference is that the person who spent money on the other mitzva (in our example Pesach food) will not have a feeling that he wasted his money, because at least he enjoyed the Pesach meals with his family. However the farmer who spent four years working the land without being able to eat during years 1-3 and then eating with restrictions in year four might say - why did I waste my efforts. To counteract this, there is a promise of a bountiful harvest in year five.
This is also why Rashi says Haya R' Akiva Omer - he himself said this because he lived it. He began to learn Torah at age 40 and could have said, I wasted my first 40 years. But instead he realized that his first 40 years allowed him to develop a thirst for Torah so that he could appreciate it more when he started learning it.
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