Unlimited Ahavas Yisrael

One's Ahavas Yisrael must be unlimited. one must always be actively engaged and search for all means to help another,[1] and this must be approached with a businesslike attitude. Just as a good businessman continually thinks of ways to expand his business and is always searching for new customers, so, too, every Jew must look to expand his "business" of ahavas Yisrael.[2]

With regard to the mitzvah of ahavas HaShem, the Torah is not satisfied with the level of "with all your heart" but commands that it be "with all your soul and with all your might." So too, ahavas Yisrael, which is a vessel for ahavas HaShem, must be unlimited.[3]

One constantly needs to arouse one's ahavas Yisrael.[4] This involves a conscious effort with all one's heart and soul to drive the love into one's heart[5] and to look with a favorable eye[6] at every person no matter what his external qualities or failings. This is the true meaning of the mitzvah, "Love your fellow as yourself."[7]

The Alter Rebbe writes an amazing thing in Tanya: If a negative thought about somebody enters one's mind, it should be treated as an idolatrous thought and immediately removed from the mind.[8] Furthermore, it could be that a defect that one sees in another may actually stem from that same defect in oneself.[9] Even if one has actually been wronged, it is correct to learn from Yosef how he repaid evil with kindness.[10]

In general, a person should always seek to take every opportunity to explain to one's own family - such as at the Shabbos and Yom Tov table - the importance of ahavas Yisrael, and in general to widen his circle of friends.[11] In addition to the Chassidic explanation of this mitzvah, one should also relate stories of tzaddikim who excelled in this character trait.[12]

One should always have a welcoming expression on one's face,[13] and in discussion one should always speak in a pleasant and peaceful manner; in a way in which one's ahavas Yisrael will be felt by the person being spoken to.[14]

Doing a Favor

The Alter Rebbe received the following teaching from the Tzaddik Reb Mordechai, who had heard it from the Baal Shem Tov: A soul may descend to this world and live seventy or eighty years, just to do a Jew a material favor, and certainly a spiritual one.[15]

This is truly a remarkable statement, for it suggests that although for seventy or eighty years a Jew may have learned much Torah and performed many mitzvos - all of which cause great delight to G-d - it could be that that is not the ultimate purpose of his soul's descent. Moreover, the Baal Shem Tov delivered this teaching to one of his greatest students, Reb Mordechai, whose learning and performance of mitzvos was exemplary. Only through doing another Jew a favor, the Baal Shem Tov told Reb Mordechai, would the purpose of the soul's descent be achieved.[16] If these words were spoken to such a person as Reb Mordechai, then they certainly apply to us.

Since we cannot know which favor is the purpose of our soul's descent,[17] it follows that we must make the greatest effort to do another favor and yet another favor in the physical and particularly in the spiritual realms for another Jew.[18] Furthermore, one should regard each favor as the purpose for which one's soul came down to this world.

The efforts to do a favor for another should be undertaken in the manner similar to that of a slave.[19] If one were to hear some bad news about another, whether of a material problem and how much more so a spiritual one, he shouldn't make all kinds of calculations, but should make all efforts to help, regardless of whether or not he is actually obligated.[20] Even if the efforts may not be successful, one should still try,[21] because the pain one feels[22] for another should touch one deeply and essentially,[23] and on this level there is no room for calculations.[24] One should also avoid making a calculation as to whether the other person actually needs what he has requested - whether it is essential or non-essential.[25] If it has been requested, one should fulfill the request without making calculations.[26] Neither should one calculate what one will receive for doing the favor - not even the spiritual rewards.[27] Even if one has an object which is difficult to find elsewhere, one should be prepared to give it away joyfully to another.[28]

The accepted rule[29] that the "brain rules the heart" should not apply when deciding how to help another.[30] It is absolutely necessary to train children in such a spirit - to raise a generation that is prepared to give away what they have for the good of another, and to do it joyfully.[31]

Human activity can be divided into two categories: matters of the body and matters of the soul. Ahavas Yisrael extends equally to both these areas. In matters of the body, we learn from the Tanya: "His body should be despised," i.e., material possessions should not be of great importance, and therefore one should not feel that a person will encroach on his borders.

In matters of the spirit, one should never think that because of one's own distinction and loftiness of soul, one should not associate with another who is not on the same level. The reasons for this are that 1) "As for the soul and spirit, who knows their greatness and level in their root and source in the living G-d?"[32] (It may be in fact that in his source, his friend is in fact greater than he) and 2) "Since they are all equal and they have one father," they are, in fact, one.[33]

It therefore follows that one should also be willing to do a favor for a child - whether a child in age or in education. We learn this from the fact that G-d removed the taste from certain foods in the wilderness so that it should not affect even the infants who were nursing. We can also learn from this how important it is to have mesirus nefesh, self-sacrifice, for the chinuch of even small children.[34]

Doing a favor for another, in addition to fulfilling the mitzvah of ahavas Yisrael, also helps to draw the person closer to HaShem spiritually.[35] One of the ways to be successful in outreach is to do a favor for another even if it may be only in material matters.[36] One should not make this favor dependent on spiritual advancement or conditional on mitzvah observance; rather, one should display true ahavas Yisrael and do another a favor simply because he is a fellow Jew.[37] Once a person has seen that somebody has done him a favor out of true ahavas Yisrael, then when the person who received the favor is asked to do a mitzvah, in the words of the Sages,[38] "A man will not display chutzpah before his debtor."

One must not hesitate to do a favor just for an individual - be it either material or spiritual. Every Jew is "a whole world" and should be viewed as such. It is a well-known saying of the Previous Rebbe that every Jew is considered like a community, because he has the power to make a community and to give life to a community.[39]

Conversely, if one is the recipient of a favor, one should never think that the person doing the favor has ulterior motives, or perhaps he is doing the favor because he is naturally disposed to helping others, rather one should view the favor as a true act of ahavas Yisrael.[40]

Self Sacrifice for Ahavas Yisrael

Not only is one obligated to try to help another, one must have mesirus nefesh to help another,[41] even for a Jew whom one has never met.[42] In this respect, ahavas Yisrael is compared to ahavas HaShem[43] in that not only must it be "with all your heart and with all your soul," but it must also be "with all your might," i.e., with mesirus nefesh.

An example of having mesirus nefesh for ahavas Yisrael may be taken from Moshe Rabbeinu. The parshah of Tetzaveh is the only parshah in the Torah after Moshe's birth that does not contain his name. The Baal HaTurim gives the explanation that when Moshe was defending the Jews after the sin of the Golden Calf, he told G-d that if He does not forgive them then, "erase my name from the book that You have written."[44] We are told that the curse of a sage is fulfilled even if it is conditional,[45] and therefore the name of Moshe does not appear in the parshah of Tetzaveh. We see from this how Moshe was willing to give up his connection with Torah - which was his whole existence - for the sake of his people, people who in fact had sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf. Through his mesirus nefesh for ahavas Yisrael, Moshe opened the channels for Jews to conduct themselves likewise in all times and places.[46]

A further example of Moshe Rabbeinu's unlimited ahavas Yisrael is witnessed in the episode of the breaking of the Tablets.[47] The Tablets of stone were the "work of G-d and the writing of G-d,"[48] which Moshe merited to receive directly from Him. The Tablets were incredibly precious to Moshe, as was his great love for Torah in general.[49] However, when Moshe, the true lover and shepherd of Israel, saw that the Tablets could cause damage to klal Yisrael (their being the kesubah, marriage contract, between G-d and His people) then without hesitation he smashed them.

For this great act of love for the Jewish people, G-d praised Moshe for his decision to break the Tablets. The fundamental importance of this teaching is indicated by the fact that it is the content of the last verse of the Torah which states: "before the eyes of Israel." Rashi comments that this refers to the breaking of the Tablets and G-d's gratitude to Moshe. A true Jewish leader will stop at nothing to defend his people.[50]

Rabbi Akiva and the Rashbi

Although Rabbi Akiva taught that the Mitzvah to "Love your fellow as yourself" is a great principle of the Torah, it is well known that 24,000 of his students died because they did not honor each other. The Rebbe explains that being true students of Rabbi Akiva, each one of them understood his mentor's teachings slightly differently and each could not accept the others' interpretation. It was this inability to accept the others' opinions that led to a lack of honor. Because Rabbi Akiva's students should certainly have demonstrated ahavas Yisrael, it was they who were punished so severely for their lack of it.

From this story one learns how important it is to maintain ahavas Yisrael even when a situation arises in which one may feel that it is not necessary to show another respect.

The fact that Rabbi Akiva's students stopped dying on Lag BaOmer has a connection with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (the Rashbi) who passed away years later on Lag BaOmer. A later student of Rabbi Akiva, the Rashbi was ordained by Rabbi Akiva after the passing of the 24,000 students.

We find that the first thing the Rashbi did upon leaving the cave in which he found refuge from the Roman authorities was to search for something he could do to benefit another. Rather than immediately gathering students and teaching them Torah, his first act was one of ahavas Yisrael. His great mesirus nefesh for ahavas Yisrael rectified the dishonor exhibited by Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, and as a result, the Rashbi blazed the path for every Jew to follow.[51]

   

Notes:

1. (Back to text) Sefer HaSichos 5700, p. 115; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 1, p. 260. The Baal Shem Tov explained the mishnah (Pirkei Avos 2:2): "All Torah study not combined with work will in the end cease and leads to sin," that the "work" referred to in the mishnah refers to the efforts that a person has to make in the area of ahavas Yisrael, and only through those efforts will the Torah be sustained. It should be noted that this explanation of the Baal Shem Tov had such an effect on Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berdichev that thereafter he devoted his entire life in active pursuit and performance of this mitzvah.

   See also Sefer HaSichos 5748, Vol. I, p. 40, on the necessity to change one's habits and pursue ahavas Yisrael.

2. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 1, p. 261. See also sichah of the second day Shavuos 5718, section 33.

3. (Back to text) See Toras Menachem 5711, Vol. 2, pp. 323-326.

4. (Back to text) Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. 1, p. 14.

5. (Back to text) Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh, Epistle 22ff.

6. (Back to text) See Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. 4, p. 1433.

7. (Back to text) HaTamim, Vol. 4, p. 45.

8. (Back to text) This is based on the Talmudic comment (Erchin 15b, Midrash Tanchuma, Metzora 2), "Lashon hara (the "evil tongue") is a terrible sin equivalent to the cardinal sins of idolatry, incest and murder." If in speech it has such a terrible effect, how much more so in the thought process as is explained at length in Iggeres HaKodesh regarding the difference between the effects of thought and speech.

9. (Back to text) See Likkutei Torah, Behaalos'cha 33a. Sichah of the 13th of Tammuz 5723 (printed in Or HaChassidus of R. C. Glitzenstein, p. 213) where the Previous Rebbe gives the explanation of the Baal Shem Tov on the verse in Yirmeyahu 2:19, "Your evil shall castigate you," that the evil one sees in another is in fact one's own evil. See also Sefer HaMaamarim 5710, p. 264.

10. (Back to text) See Tanya, ch. 12, Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 5, p. 241.

11. (Back to text) Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. 1, p. 14.

12. (Back to text) Sefer HaMaamarim 5711, p. 65. See also Sefer HaSichos 5748, Vol. I, p. 77, note 113, that in general when one says words of Torah the words should be filled with a spirit of kindness and kiruv.

13. (Back to text) Well known is the saying that a person's face is a reshus harabim - a public domain. No matter what mood a person is in regarding his personal matters, he should still try to show a welcoming and smiling face to others.

14. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 23, p. 248.

15. (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 51; Likkutei Dibburim, Vol. 3, p. 1126. Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 4, p. 1255.

16. (Back to text) And the soul would reach heights through doing the favor that could not be achieved prior to the descent.

17. (Back to text) The favor is therefore a question of pikuach nefesh, not only for the life of the one for whom one is performing the favor, but for the person doing the favor, as it could be that the entire descent of his soul is for that reason.

18. (Back to text) Sichah of Shabbos Parshas Ki Sissa 5745, section 10. In that sichah the Rebbe also quotes the story (printed in full in Pokei'ach Ivrim, p. 18) of the great chassid of the Alter Rebbe, R. Yosef Beshenkovitch to whom the Alter Rebbe once told in yechidus that for the good of his neshamah, it would be better for him to be a wagon driver than to be a Rav. The story continues that although he had spent the last fifty years learning, Reb Yosef followed the Alter Rebbe's instruction and became a wagon driver. After ten years had elapsed at this trade, he met an estranged Jew and he made him a baal teshuvah. Afterwards, the Mitteler Rebbe told Reb Yosef that he had fulfilled the purpose of being a wagon driver and he was now to return to being a teacher of Chassidus. The Rebbe points out: Why was it necessary that Reb Yosef had to be a wagon driver for more than ten years before he met the Jew? In order to make the baal teshuvah, surely it would have been enough just to leave the learning for a while - but why for so long? Imagine the inner pain that Reb Yosef felt when he had to leave his beloved learning behind and do the mundane things that a wagon driver has to do! And the biggest question was that in yechidus the Alter Rebbe did not even hint as to the purpose for which he was to become a wagon driver except that it was for the good of his soul! The Rebbe therefore says that it could be that the whole purpose of the ten years was to bring Reb Yosef to the state of "a broken heart" (and there is nothing as complete as a broken heart). Whatever the explanation may be, we see from this story the importance of doing a favor for a single Jew.

    See also Sefer HaSichos 5749, Vol. I, p. 34.

19. (Back to text) Sefer HaMaamarim 5691, ch. 6.

20. (Back to text) Even if there may be a ruling according to the Shulchan Aruch that one does not have to make such efforts for such a person, and if one were to come and ask a question of a Rav, the Rav would rule in the negative, even so, one should have mesirus nefesh to help out. See Sefer HaMaamarim 5701, p. 163; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 6, p. 288.

21. (Back to text) As in the story that the Alter Rebbe tells about the prince who became ill and the doctors suggested that if the jewel in the king's crown were to be crushed and mixed with water, this might save the prince's life. So, too, in our generation, the King's crown, i.e., the inner dimension of the Torah, has been given to us. Likkutei Sichos, ibid.

22. (Back to text) In the sichah of Purim 5720, section 5, the Rebbe related a story from the Rebbe Rashab that illustrates this point:

    The story took place while the Rebbe the Tzemach Tzedek was still living and the Rebbe Rashab was no more than five or five and a half, because the Rebbe Rashab was five and a half when the Tzemach Tzedek passed away. Being a child, the Rebbe Rashab was then playing with his older brother, Reb Zalman Aharon. Since they both grew up in a house where the talk was constantly about a Rebbe and a chassid, they decided to play Rebbe and chassid. Since Reb Zalman Aharon was one and a half years older than the Rebbe Rashab, it was decided that Reb Zalman Aharon would play Rebbe and the Rebbe Rashab would be the chassid.

    When the Previous Rebbe related this story, he described how Reb Zalman Aharon then sat down on a chair and adjusted his hat to look like the hat of a rebbe, after which the Rebbe Rashab approached him and asked for a tikkun (advice on how to rectify a sin). Reb Zalman Aharon asked the Rebbe Rashab, "What do you need a tikkun for?" The Rebbe Rashab replied, "Last Shabbos, I ate nuts, and only later I found out that the Alter Rebbe writes in his Siddur that one should not eat nuts on Shabbos." Reb Zalman Aharon answered him, "[Your tikkun is that] You should always pray while looking inside a siddur - not by heart." The Rebbe Rashab then replied, "This [the advice you gave me] won't help because [I see] you are not a Rebbe! And how do I know? Because when a Rebbe answers, he must give a sigh. The advice you gave me may be good advice, but it was said without a sigh! If you didn't sigh then you are not a Rebbe, and if you are not a Rebbe then your advice is not advice!"

    From this we learn, concluded the Rebbe, that when one Jew helps another, it is not enough just to do the action, but the action must be accompanied with a sigh.

23. (Back to text) The Baal Shem Tov related the following story: Heaven and earth shall be my witness that there was once a simple Jew who knew only how to pray and recite Psalms, who, upon presenting himself after he departed from this world before the Heavenly Court, was faced with serious judgment. It was only on account of the fact that he excelled in ahavas Yisrael: in thought - always thinking about ahavas Yisrael; in speech - always speaking about ahavas Yisrael; and in action - always helping another to the best of his ability, feeling and sensitivity to the pain of another man or woman, and conversely rejoicing in their simchahs, it was only because of this attribute that he was awarded a place in the Garden of Eden between the tzaddikim and the gaonim, as the rabbis have said, they are true lovers of Israel. The sigh that is made when one hears of another's misfortune can break through the iron curtains of the mekatregim (accusing angels), and the simchah and the blessing that one Jew gives another when he rejoices in his simchah and blesses him is accepted by HaShem like the prayer uttered by R. Yishmael the High Priest in the Holy of Holies (Sefer HaSichos 5703, p. 164).

24. (Back to text) Sichah of the 10th of Shevat printed in Sefer HaMaamarim 5701, p. 163, and in Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 6, pp. 283-289. In the sichah the Rebbe related a story from the Previous Rebbe which illustrates this point. See ch. 11 of this book.

25. (Back to text) See Kesubos 67b and Rashi, Devorim 15:8 - even a horse to ride on and a servant to run before him. See Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 250:1.

26. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 5, p. 56.

27. (Back to text) Ibid., Vol. 4, pp. 1058-9. Even if by doing the favor one will become "defiled" (as in the case of the kohen who offered the Red Heifer), one should make no calculations, as calculations are all in seder hahishtalshelus (the chain order of creation). Going above all calculations reaches the Essence.

28. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 4, p. 1107 - even by giving to somebody who may have succumbed to sin, and even if the favor will not be attributed in one's name.

    See also the sichah of the 12th of Tammuz 5719 to learn from the ahavas Yisrael of Yosef hatzaddik.

29. (Back to text) Tanya, ch. 12.

30. (Back to text) Sichah of Purim 5704, printed in Kovetz Lubavitch, Vol. 2, p. 19.

31. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 4, p. 1107.

32. (Back to text) Tanya, ch. 32, quoted above.

33. (Back to text) Sichah of Shabbos Parshas Vayakhel Pekudei 5724, section 3.

34. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 33, p. 76.

35. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 1, pp. 133, 261. See sichah of the second day Shavuos 5718, section 33.

36. (Back to text) This in fact was the way of the Baal Shem Tov, first to help another Jew materially (e.g., in his livelihood), and then to arouse him as regards mitzvah performance. In truth, this is not novel, for this was also the approach taken by our patriarch Avraham. Even when Arabs arrived with dust on their feet (to which they had bowed in an idolatrous fashion), Avraham ran and served them all their hearts' desire: Sarah made them cakes, etc., Avraham himself prepared the meat: three tongues and mustard! If that is how Avraham treated the Arab visitors, how much more so should we treat a fellow Jew! (Hisvaadiyus 5745, Vol. 2, p. 739.)

37. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 15, p. 90, that true love of the essence transcends all calculations, even that of "perhaps he may draw him near to Torah and mitzvos."

38. (Back to text) Bava Metzia 3a.

39. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 23, p. 502. And even a person who naturally is private and reserved is only so naturally. However, after "avodah," who knows what he can achieve, as is well known the ruling (Talmud Yerushalmi, Kesubos 5:2) that a ruling of Torah can change nature.

40. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 21, p. 50.

41. (Back to text) HaTamim, No. 8, p. 50, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov.

42. (Back to text) HaYom Yom, p. 113, in the name of the Baal Shem Tov.

43. (Back to text) Sichah of the Seventh Day of Pesach 5705, printed in Kovetz Lubavitch, No. 7, p. 24.

44. (Back to text) Shemos 32:32.

45. (Back to text) Makkos 11a.

46. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 21, p. 179.

47. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 23, pp. 278-9, how ahavas Yisrael corrects the breaking of the Tablets.

48. (Back to text) Shemos 32:16.

49. (Back to text) So much so that the Torah is called "Moshe's Torah" - see Malachi 3:22 and Shemos Rabbah 30:4.

50. (Back to text) See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 34, pp. 220-1. See also Vol. 24, p. 258, where the Rebbe explains how before the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu, he mentions Aharon, to indicate the greatness of Aharon's avodah of loving the creations and drawing them near to Torah. Even in death, Moshe Rabbeinu was destined to be with his people, as he was buried in the Transjordan so that upon Resurrection he will lead them into the land. See Midrash Rabbah, Bamidbar 19:13. In Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 2, p. 323, the Rebbe points out that Rabbi Akiva, the one who said that ahavas Yisrael is a great principle of the Torah, also ruled that the generation of the wilderness would have no place in the World to Come (Sanhedrin 108a). Even so, Moshe is the faithful shepherd and stays with them.

51. (Back to text) Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 32, p. 152.