Chassidus emphasizes that the mitzvah of Ahavat Yisrael—love of fellow Jews—applies even to a completely wicked person. At the Maggid of Mezritch’s court, students took turns serving him. Once, during Rabbi Elimelech’s of Leyzench’s turn, the Maggid said to him: “Do you hear, Meilich, what they say in the Heavenly yeshiva—that Ahavat Yisrael means to love a completely wicked person as one loves a completely righteous person.”
The Rebbe explains (Torat Menachem, vol. 8) that this statement of the Maggid of Mezritch introduces a new insight regarding the Baal Shem Tov’s teaching on Ahavat Yisrael for simple Jews: the Baal Shem Tov spoke only about ordinary people, whereas the Maggid added that one must also love even a completely wicked person—and moreover, that the love for the completely wicked must be equal to the love for the completely righteous.
There are those who feel motivated to bring a Jew closer to the world of Torah and mitzvot only when that Jew possesses special virtues and qualities. But when it comes to an ordinary Jew, especially one in whom no particular merit is visible, they have no special interest in dedicating themselves to drawing such Jews near.
Regarding this, the Mishnah says (Pirkei Avot, Chapter 1:12): “Be of the disciples of Aharon... One who loves the creatures and draws them close to Torah.”
It is clear that the Mishnah is speaking about bringing Jews closer to the Torah (for there is no question of bringing non-Jews to the Torah), yet the Mishnah does not say that one should bring all Jews—or similar—closer to the Torah; it uses the term “creatures”.
The Alter Rebbe (Tanya, Chapter 32) clarifies that the intention here is those Jews in whom no special merit is apparent, and the only merit one can attribute to them is that they are creatures created by Hashem: “Far from the Torah and its service, and therefore they are called merely ‘creatures’.” As the Rebbe explains (Torat Menachem, vol. 11): “Those who have no other merit except that Hashem created them.”
The Supreme Root
At times, one encounters a Jew who appears completely wicked (rasha gamur), immersed entirely in the depths of the kelipot (forces of impurity), and one may think there is no point—or perhaps no chance—of extracting something precious from him and returning such a Jew to Hashem and His Torah. On this point, the Rebbe (Likutei Sichot, vol. 15) derives a wonderful lesson from the actions of Yitzchak with his son Esav. The Torah states that “Yitzchak loved Esav”, and that he even wanted to bless him. Clearly, Yitzchak knew that Esav was far from righteous and was aware of all his deeds, yet he still endeavored to draw him close.
Yitzchak saw Esav’s highest root. When he looked at Esav, he did not see only his form as it exists in this world, but also his spiritual root and what he could and should become. Yitzchak is involved in digging wells: digging into the dry earth and discovering the living waters that lie beneath. He sought to “dig” even into Esav’s soul to reveal the higher lights hidden within it.
Our Job Today
From this, we learn an eternal lesson: if Esav the wicked, who lived before the giving of the Torah, is nevertheless called a Jew (even if an apostate Jew), and if Yitzchak strove to “dig” within him to reveal the hidden inner goodness, all the more so after the giving of the Torah, when Hashem declared to every Jew, “I am Hashem your G-d”, and established that the true power and life of every Jew is “I am Hashem.”
Especially so for those Jews who, outwardly, seem to behave improperly, they also occupy a level infinitely higher than Esav (in addition to the fact that in our days almost all of them are in the category of “tinok sh’nishbah” - a child raised amongst non-Jews who is not transgressing deliberately).
Therefore, we are certainly obligated to dedicate ourselves to bringing all our Jewish brothers close, even those who appear far from Judaism, to “dig” within them and reveal the “living waters” hidden in each and every one of them.
Adapted from Rabbi Menachem Brod, Sichat HaShevua
