These profound words from the Chortkover Rebbe can be understood in the following way: To remove the barriers from blocking the shefah, to view the neshamah of the next person as it is—pure—and to love a person with a deep love... this is very difficult—and it is a very high level for a person to reach. We’ll say it this way: It’s impossible to be a ba’al aveirah and simultaneously love a fellow Yid with true love.
Some may think that when we ask for ahavas Yisrael, the idea is that a person can remain the way he is... the main thing is that he loves another person. But the truth is that this is impossible. When a person digs into his own soul to be able to love another for the simple reason that he is a Yid, he is moser nefesh for that Yid, he does for him, he davens for him, and even when it’s difficult he gives everything away in order to help him, he is automatically elevated! He is transformed into a tzaddik! One of the attributes of the tzaddik is that he loves his fellow Yid with true love. It’s not easy to carry the load of countless Yidden, to be moser nefesh for them, to daven for them, and to give up personal considerations for the welfare of others... it is a tremendous avodah.
