We will bring another heartwarming story to teach us what "Ahavat Yisrael" is:
The walls of the room of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman zt"l, have already become accustomed to hearing chilling, moving, or horrific stories from the mouths of those who come to receive the Rosh Yeshiva's advice and blessing. Despite this, it seems that this occasion was unusual by any standard, and all the members of the household teared their eyes at this terrible spectacle...
Rabbi Nachum Bernstein, shlita, came to the Rosh Yeshiva, together with his disciple – a Jew who had recently taken his first steps into the world of Torah and mitzvot, and repented completely. "The Rosh Yeshiva," Rabbi Bernstein introduced his student, "the Jew before us has come a long way from the education he has received to this day – when he is privileged to toil in Torah and elevate in mitzvot and fear of Heaven, and there is still one mitzva that he is unable to fulfill, he has failed in it time and time again..."
Yes, indeed," the author of the teshuva burst into bitter tears, "I did everything I could. I dedicate myself to the labor of the Torah with all my heart and thank God I manage to fulfill most of the mitzvot. Only in this mitzva do I fail to overcome; again and again I fail, and the inclination diverts me from my path, again and again my heart crashes and I cannot stand. May the Rosh Yeshiva teach me what to do, how to cope, maybe some reinforcement advice or something...", he asked for signs in tears.
He expected the Rosh Yeshiva to explain to him the seriousness of the matter, perhaps to give him practical advice, to study in this or that book, to act in one way or another. To his great surprise, he was answered in a different way ... The Rosh Yeshiva rose to his full stature, shook his hand warmly, hugged him and kissed him again and again... Ninety-five years of Torah labor and community leadership stood up and showered love on a recently arrived repentant man, with the Rosh Yeshiva saying to him with tearful eyes: "Oh, how much I envy you, how much I envy you... How many rights do you accumulate every time you do overcome, how much eternal reward awaits you... I'm jealous of you!" The Rosh Yeshiva did not calm down, and shook his hand with endless love: "You are a wonderful tzaddik, a rare tzaddik. I find it so hard to cooperate, and yet I try, I keep trying, I still keep fighting. The Creator of the world is proud of people like you; I am full of jealousy of you!"
Everyone present wiped away tears; not many times did they see the Rosh Yeshiva so excited, so flattering, so encouraging, certainly not a Jew who testifies to himself that he failed time and time again... Finally, the Rosh Yeshiva shook the man's hand again and asked him to re-enter it after a while, because he wanted to meet the great spiritual hero again...
A few months later, Rabbi Bernstein returned with the same Jew and entered the Rosh Yeshiva, who received them warmly and remembered the previous meeting well. The Rosh Yeshiva was interested in his well-being and how the struggle was going, and was happy to hear that there had been a significant improvement, that the Jew was already coping much better, although he still failed from time to time... And once again, the moving spectacle is repeated. The Rosh Yeshiva gets up from his chair, hugs and kisses him with warmth and boundless love. "Blessed are you, how good your lot is" – the Rosh Yeshiva praises him, "I am happy that I am privileged to meet a person like you! You manage to overcome, you fight like a lion, I'm proud of you!" - the Rosh Yeshiva sits down and reads excitedly, shakes his hand warmly and invites him to visit again in a while...
The third time he entered, the Jew told him that he had completely elevated himself, that he was standing firm in his mind and in all the commandments of his religion. This time it was impossible to contain the spectacle; the Rosh Yeshiva rose from his chair and kissed him on the forehead, "You are not a holy Jew, you are the Holy of Holies!" – the Rosh Yeshiva called out to him with endless excitement – "There are no words to describe, no words really!" And so, with sincere love of Israel, without a word of criticism, without reinforcement or advice, only with a shower of love, the Rosh Yeshiva succeeded in giving him the strength to overcome his attempts, to defeat his inclination. Because love of Israel is a sure recipe for influencing others, the way of love always wins, is beneficial, uplifting, and influential!
This discovery is revealed in the book Likutei Amrim-Tanya in chapter 32, that the way to influence a person and bring him closer to the Torah passes through the path of love of Israel, and thus he writes: "Even those who are far from the Torah of God and His service... It is necessary to be pledged in bonds of love." Because love of Israel is the way to influence, to elevate, to give strength and coping abilities to others! Let us adopt this path, because we all want to have the ability to influence others, to elevate them, to educate our children. To succeed in this, how worthwhile it is to choose the path of love of Israel, to see the good part of our fellow human beings and to connect to them with true love, and then we will be able to speak to them from a place of love and affection, and influence them for the better.
