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Three great Chassidic leaders were famous for their ahavat yisrael (“love
of a fellow Jew”): Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev,
and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov.
Rabbi Zusha was a living example of the maxim that “Love covers up all
iniquities.”[1]
What the ordinary observer would perceive as a glaring deficiency, or even
an outright sin, would not “register” in his holy eyes and mind. Rabbi
Zusha was simply incapable of seeing anything negative in a fellow Jew.
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak’s love found expression in his incessant efforts as
an advocate for the people of Israel. Unlike Rabbi Zusha, he was not blind to
their misdeeds and failings; but he never failed to “judge every man to
the side of merit”[2]
to find a justification for, and even a positive aspect to, his behavior. (A
typical story tells of how, upon seeing a wagon driver who was greasing his
wheels while reciting his morning prayers, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak lifted his eyes
to Heaven and cried: “Master of the Universe! Behold the piety of Your
children! Even as they go about their daily affairs, they do not cease to pray
to You!”)
But the Baal Shem Tov’s love ran deeper yet. To him, ahavat yisrael was
not the refusal to see the deficiencies of a fellow Jew, or even the endeavor
to transform them into merits, but an unequivocal love regardless of their spiritual
state. He loved the most iniquitous transgressor with the same boundless love
with which he loved the greatest tzaddik; he loved them as G-d loves them—as
a father loves his children, regardless of who and what they are.
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[2] Ethics of the Fathers 1:6.
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