Reb Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld zt 'l told the following story. He heard it from Reb Zalman Chaim Rivlin zt'l, who heard it from Reb Nachum of Shadik zt'l.
Once, an egg merchant came to the rav of his city, covered from head to toe in eggs and egg shells. He told the rav what happened. "Like I do every day, I bought a basket of eggs in a nearby village and brought them to sell in town. A customer asked me to deliver eggs to his home. I said that I first needed payment. He became angry and hit my basket with his stick. All the eggs broke, and I became dirtied with egg yolks. I want him summoned for a din Torah!"
The rav sent his shamesh to summon that person for a din Torah. The shamesh was afraid because this person was renowned in the city as a moser — someone who slandered the Jewish community to the local government — and everyone in the town was afraid of him. But the rav told him not to be scared and to do his mission.
The shamesh went to the moser's home and told him, "The rav summons you to a din Torah." The moser ridiculed the shamesh and refused to go. The shamesh relayed the moser's insolent response. The rav said, "Go to his home and summon him again. This time, warn him that he will be placed in niduy, ex-communication if he doesn't come." This time, the moser slapped the shamesh and repeated that he would not come to court.
That Shabbos, the moser was called up for an aliyah. The rav quickly rushed to the bimah, and in front of everyone, he said, "Rasha! You are in niduy because you didn’t come to beis din. You may not receive an aliyah." The moser stepped down, ashamed. Under his breath, but loud enough so people could hear, the moser said, "I will take revenge on the rav."
A few days later, the rav traveled to a neighboring village to be sandek at a bris. His student, Reb Nachum Shadik, and others were with him. From a distance, the students saw the moser. "We are in great danger," they told the rav. "The moser is chasing us, and he will soon catch up." The rav became deep in thought. Soon, the moser arrived, and in a surprisingly humble voice, he said to the rav, "I want to hit your talmidim. Please, let me hit them." "No!" the rav reprimanded. "You may not touch them." "Then let me spit on them?" "Also, not." "Forgive me for all the trouble I caused you." "If you will receive the egg merchant's forgiveness and pay for the eggs you broke, I will also forgive you." The moser gave the rav ten rubles and said, "Give it to the egg merchant. It will cover the cost of the eggs. And the extra money is to appease him, so he should forgive me." The rav took the money and said, "I will give over the money. I am certain that he will forgive you. And I also forgive you." They parted on friendly terms.
The students were shocked by the moser's humble demeanor. Reb Nachum Shadik asked the rav how it happened. "How did the moser change his nature so quickly? He was rushing to harm us. How did he suddenly become so gentle?" The rav replied, "My rebbes taught me that the solution to every problem could be found in the Torah. As the moser was pursuing after us, I thought of the pasuk, לאדם האדם לב כן לפנים הפנים כמים. This pasuk teaches that people are like mirrors. If you love your fellow man, you can be certain he loves you too. If you hate someone, this is a sign that he hates you. I realized that if the moser hates me, it must be that I hate him as well, and if I love him, he will love me back. I began searching for his qualities and finding ways to judge him favorably. I thought about how he was probably raised without chinuch and doesn't know how to act properly. I thought such thoughts until I loved him. This automatically spurred him to think positively towards me, and he didn’t want to hurt me anymore." Reb Nachum asked, "Why did he want to hit and spit on us?" "He hated you because you still hated him. Had you loved him, he would feel positive towards you as well."
The Or HaChaim (45:4) writes that Yosef said to his brothers, "This that you are afraid of me, don't worry, אחיכם יוסף אני, I am with you in brotherhood, as if nothing occurred."
