I May Be the Most Successful Person in the World, But I Do Not Have This

"And Moshe gathered all the congregation of the Children of Israel" (Exodus 35:1). "Moshe Rabbeinu saw that the Holy Temple was destined to be destroyed due to the sin of sinas chinam (baseless hatred). Therefore, he prefaced the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) with 'Vayakhel' (And he gathered). This hinted to them that 'Vayakhel'—unity and peace—is the primary condition for the making of the Mishkan" (Rabbi Moshe of Pshevorsk). Unity, peace, and walking in the path of Hashem in truth can only be achieved through love of friends. Every Jew has received a Divine spark, and every spark is a different part of the whole. Within everyone, there is something unique that does not exist in the other in any way. To fulfill his mission in the world, a person must concentrate all his soul's strengths, but more than anything else, he must know that he cannot do it alone. We need to be together and know that "the one who draws your water and the one who chops your wood" possesses a point that does not exist in me. I may be the most successful person in the world, but I do not have this specific quality. And I need that point. Hashem wants the perfection of everyone together, the tribes of Israel united. Today, we live within circle upon circle—everyone with their own community, their own Chassidic group, their own circle—but this is all a preparation for the Great Circle that will exist in the future. Almost everyone knows the word Anash (an acronym for Anshei Shlomeinu—"People of our Community"). It is such a useful, familial, warm, and friendly word, testifying to the unity among those who fear Hashem. However, we are forbidden to ignore all the other Jews just because they are not from Anash. We must show a welcoming face to everyone and do kindness with everyone. We should not be like the stork, which is called Chassidah in Hebrew (sharing a root with chessed, kindness) because it does kindness with its friends. Our Sages ask: If so, why is it a non-kosher bird? If it does kindness, it is fitting that it should be pure! They answer: It is because it does kindness only with its friends. We must do kindness with everyone, love everyone, and think good thoughts about everyone. Even if we are currently occupied with our limited circle and are trying to bring those outside into it, we must remember that this is all preparation for the Great Circle of the future, when everyone will be together. There are many moments in life when we want to be quiet, with ourselves, and not see anyone. This is natural, but it is not the ultimate truth. These are feelings that must be overcome. True, in certain situations it is correct, as Koheles said, there is a time for this and a time for that; there are moments when a person needs to be with himself without anyone seeing him. But one must not fix this as a permanent reality, because every single soul of every individual is actually part of one general soul—the soul of the Nation of Israel. Unity and peace—only with this can one truly live in this world. Only then are the Children of Israel beloved before the Omnipresent, Blessed is He. When they are together, when they are at peace. "If Israel were in complete unity, they would be redeemed immediately." There are things that are in the heart, which not everyone sees. Every single Jew—even if his actions are not so good—his heart is good. His desires are good. His soul is good. If he did something not good, he regrets it. The Holy One, Blessed is He, sees it all. We do not. We must exert ourselves to connect with the holy soul of the other and, Heaven forbid, not let external symptoms become a barrier between our souls. Love, peace, and unity—this is Judaism! What does it mean to look with an evil eye at another? What is this jealousy where one literally suffers when seeing another succeed? The Torah can only be received through love and unity. The secret of the Giving of the Torah was that six hundred thousand of Israel gathered together in love and peace, with one heart, as one man. This togetherness is a tremendous power. "When all of Israel give a hand to one another, the hands join together and reach the Throne of Glory" (Rabbi Yisrael of Kozhnitz). Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because there was sinas chinam (baseless hatred) within it (Yoma 9b). Through what will the Third Temple be built? Through ahavas chinam (baseless love) being among us. We do not have the privilege not to love the other. We must invest all our efforts into this. Hashem is the Father of everyone, and the moment we do not accept a certain soul, we are essentially entering into a dispute with Hashem; we lose our support. This is something so minimal, simple, and existential—one shouldn't even need to say so many words of Torah about it. It is a very, very simple thing, but as simple as it is, it is still very difficult. Because of it, we are still in Galus (exile). Love of friends often exists within a certain limit, under certain conditions, until one touches the person's fingernail (i.e., slightly offends them). With all the Torah we have, we do not succeed in fulfilling the dictum: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to another." There are so many things we dislike being done to us, yet we are not careful to avoid doing them to others. If we want Hashem, we must invest in love of the creations. The Torah brings a verse in our Parsha that illustrates this connection between the love of Hashem and the love of creations: "And the Cherubim spread their wings upward... and their faces were one toward the other" (Exodus 37:9). You cannot reach "upward," to Hashem, if you do not look at your brothers. Once, a Chassid came to the Rebbe of Sanz (the Divrei Chaim), and the Rebbe asked him which Rebbe he travels to. The Chassid replied that he travels to the son of the Rebbe of Sanz, the Rebbe of Shinova. The Rebbe of Sanz asked him: "Is my son Yechezkel a Rebbe? In what way is he a Rebbe?" The Chassid told him of his toils in the service of Hashem. The Divrei Chaim replied: "In this, he is not yet a Rebbe, for every Jew must serve Hashem." The Chassid continued to tell of his greatness in Torah, etc., and to all of this, the Rebbe of Sanz answered that despite this, he is still not a Rebbe. Then the Chassid related that once, he met a poor man during the days of winter and snow, and the Rebbe of Shinova noticed that the poor man had no boots on his feet, and this prevented him from going around the city to knock on the doors of generous people. The Rebbe of Shinova gave him his own boots as a gift in the middle of the street. The Divrei Chaim responded: "Aha! If he gives his own to another, in this he is already a Rebbe!" And another story about concession (vitur), a story that happened in our times, about a Jew who approached the Gabbai (sexton) of a synagogue in Bnei Brak and requested in advance to pray Musaf before the Ark (lead the services) on the upcoming Shabbos, since the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of his mother, peace be upon her, fell on that Shabbos. The Gabbai accepted the request and told him the 'Amud' (lectern) was reserved for him. Shabbos morning arrived, and before the Shacharis prayer, one of the congregants approached the Gabbai and asked to lead the Musaf prayer because that day was his father's yahrtzeit. The Gabbai's answer was, of course, that the Amud was already taken. The man asked to organize an additional minyan outside the synagogue and was met with refusal, and then an argument began that reached high and jarring tones. The congregant who had reserved it first approached and said, "I concede the Amud." And behold, on Motzaei Shabbos (Saturday night), his deceased mother, peace be upon her, appeared to him in his sleep. With a happy and shining face, she revealed to him that in the merit of his concession of the 'Amud,' she merited a higher elevation of the soul (aliyah) than in any other year on her yahrtzeit. "Your concession shook the worlds..." ("Marbim Shalom"). Unity is more precious than gold; it is greater than any matter and anything else; it is the root of all blessing for Israel. One must not awaken dispute within Israel for any reason or matter. One must increase love, forgiveness, and patience—a man for his brother, a man for his relative, a man for his wife and children, his neighbors and acquaintances, and for every man of Israel. One must know that the entire root of blessing in one's business and in a person's spiritual and material level depends literally on the Ahavas Yisrael (Love of Israel) and the unity that he seeks. Hashem created this world prior to everything so that we would fulfill the commandments between man and his fellow. When there is peace and love between us, this is the greatest joy of the Holy One, Blessed is He.