Achrei Mos - Kedoshim: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with the weekly sharp insight: "And you shall love your fellow as yourself - this is a great principle of the Torah," on the difference between the Ahavas Yisroel of Reb Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok…

00:00 Rabbi Akiva. That is, they were worthy of being called Rabbi Akiva’s students. Rabbi Akiva’s great principle was what he said: “Love your fellow as yourself” is a great principle of the Torah. So surely he taught his students, “Love your fellow as yourself.” How could it be that Rabbi Akiva’s students did not treat one another with respect? To the point that twelve thousand pairs of students died. How can that be? How can we understand it? The Rebbe explains that sometimes, precisely because of Ahavas Yisroel, when it is not expressed properly, people can fail to treat one another with respect. Why? How can that happen? The Rebbe says that it is written: “Just as their faces are not alike, so their opinions are not alike.” No two people think exactly the same way. Each person understands things according to how Hakadosh Boruch Hu created him. So each student understood the halachah Rabbi Akiva taught in his own way. Out of Ahavas Yisroel, he thought he had to convince his friend to think the same way, because he believed his own understanding was right. So he had to convince his friend out of Ahavas Yisroel—and precisely because of that, they ended up not treating one another with respect. In other words, if we do not practice Ahavas Yisroel properly, the exact opposite can result. There is a story about three people who excelled in Ahavas Yisroel. One was Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, who loved every Jew. Why? Because whenever he saw a Jew, he saw nothing bad in him. He saw only good. Every Jew was pure gold to him. He saw nothing bad, so he loved every Jew. Then there was Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who always found merit in every Jew. Even when he saw a Jew committing the most serious transgression, he immediately turned it

01:47 around, found merit in him, and made it into a crown for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He saw a wagon driver greasing the wheels while reciting Shema Yisroel, and said, “Look, Master of the Universe, look at the Jews You have. Even while he greases the wheels, he recites Shema Yisroel.” But then there was the Alter Rebbe. The Alter Rebbe excelled in Ahavas Yisroel. He saw each person’s shortcomings. He did not ignore them, and somehow, despite all those shortcomings, he loved the person with genuine love. Somehow. That is true Ahavas Yisroel. Not everyone has to think the way I do. We can see it clearly today, in what is happening. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created each person with his own way of understanding things. He understands things differently; that is his right. He does not have to think the way I do. That is true Ahavas Yisroel. Accept every Jew as he is. The Rebbe did not want everyone to become a Chabad chossid. We need to bring them closer to Yiddishkeit, of course. But a person does not have to become a Chabad chossid. He can remain a Vizhnitz chossid; he can remain a Satmar chossid, too. Accept him as he is. Every Jew in the world, as he is. Because we…