The Secret of Loving Friends: The Path to Rectifying Thought and the Redemption of Israel

Lesson No. 262 | Cassette 262, Tuesday, Parashas Shoftim, 28 Menachem Av 5760 - At the Yeshiva

A profound lesson explaining the power of self-sacrifice for the community, bringing distant Jews closer, and supporting the poor of the Land of Israel. The Rav explains through the words of the Ibn Ezra how true love of friends and good thoughts are capable of eradicating all evil from the Jewish people and bringing the Geulah (Redemption).

I went from house to house and they threw me out like a dog, but always after they threw me out, a few days later a door opened for me. First, a person is thrown out, spat in the face, and tossed down all the stairs. But when Hashem sees that he continues onward and does not break, suddenly a door opens for him and he receives an abundance that makes up for everything. This is how we built another building and another building, and this is how the entire Jewish people were saved.

There is truly no such reality as a secular Jew. If a Jew were not religious in his soul, he would have already converted to Christianity or Islam and left the Land of Israel. Every Jew wants to keep Shabbos and put on tefillin. Therefore, we must go to all the moshavim (agricultural settlements). The moment there is true love, people will see Jews with peyos (sidelocks) and will let them help them put on tefillin. We need to go out in pairs, learn for eight hours a day, and dedicate another eight hours to walking to the moshavim. Even if they throw us out of all the windows and doors, ultimately a person will see a salvation that he never saw in his wildest, rosiest dreams.

The Holiness of the Poor of the Land of Israel

At the end of the book 'Alim LiTerufah', Rabbi Nachman of Tulchin brings a tremendous fundamental principle regarding supporting the poor of the Land of Israel. He writes that one must send all their money to the Land of Israel, and they should not look at the deeds of the poor or how they behave. First of all, we must support them so they have food, and after that, they will also serve Hashem.

Rabbi Yitzchak related that in the year 5633 (1873), the Turks wanted to sell the entire Land of Israel. The Sultan needed money and said he was selling the whole land for a few pennies. The Breslov Chassidim at that time had hundreds of sacks of gold, and they could have bought the entire Land of Israel a thousand times over. Therefore, every ruble and every penny you have – send it to the Land of Israel for a mitzvah. All the Jews who live in the Land of Israel, if they only keep Shabbos, put on tefillin, and eat kosher, they are already holy and pure, and it is a mitzvah to support them. It is forbidden to make calculations about whether a person learns Torah or does not learn. The moment a Jew keeps kosher and family purity, comes to Torah classes, and travels to Uman – there is no estimating the immense value of this Jew.

Educating Children in Holiness

We must work to fill all our twenty-four hours with Torah, prayer, fear of Heaven, and educating our children. It is forbidden to let children go out into the streets, because in the street, a child only absorbs evil. If we do not catch him and educate him at age six or seven, he might be lost for his entire life.

Everyone needs to take their children from the age of three, lock them in a fortress of holiness, buy books, and sit down to tell them stories of tzaddikim from the moment they return from cheder (Torah school) until they go to sleep. I myself would sit with my children, learn with them, and tell them stories for hours upon hours, until I had no strength left, just so they would not go out into the streets, even though we lived on Rashbam Street in the Chazon Ish neighborhood, in the best place in Bnei Brak.

Prayer as a Preparation for Action

However, to succeed in all these activities, whether it is collecting funds to save the yeshiva or bringing distant Jews closer, everything must begin with proper prayer. You cannot run straight to collect money, because such money brings no blessing and everything collapses.

First of all, one prays the Shacharis morning prayer with the vasikin (sunrise) minyan, word by word. Reciting the Shema on time, the Shemoneh Esrei prayer on time, "Uva LeTzion" and "Aleinu LeShabei'ach" on time, and afterward reciting The Tikkun HaKlali. Only after praying slowly and learning Torah, does one go out to take action, and then there is Siyata Dishmaya (Heavenly assistance). Everyone is a child of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. We all keep Shabbos and everyone is holy, and it is a great mitzvah to collect money and help every avreich (Torah scholar) and every family, exactly as they are and whatever they are.

The Secret of the Ibn Ezra: Love of Friends Prevents Bloodshed

At the conclusion of Parashas Shoftim, the Ibn Ezra (and the 'Avi Ezri' commentary) explains a fundamental principle that encompasses all of Judaism, regarding the verse about the eglah arufah (the decapitated calf):

"And you shall eradicate the innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of Hashem."

What is "right in the eyes of Hashem"? If ten people hold themselves together in true love, in joy, and in mutual assistance, and fulfill "A man helps his fellow, and to his brother he says, 'Be strong'" – there will be no murders among the Jewish people, there will be no thefts and no robberies. Everyone will love one another. If ten people love each other, this light illuminates the entire nation.

All abandonment of religion stems from a lack of love for friends. Meir Vilner, who was a communist leader, once told me why he became secular and left religion. He said: "I was religious with peyos, but I lived in a remote town, and there was a poor man there who passed away without a penny. The Chevra Kadisha (burial society) did not want to bury him because he had no money. From that, I became secular!" The lack of love and caring is what pushes people away and creates movements of heresy.

Everything depends on thought, as the holy Zohar states everywhere. If we all decide to help one another, not to oppress, not to deceive, and to speak the truth in our hearts, the electricity and the light will spread throughout the entire Jewish people. First, the bodies need to love one another, and then the spirit, the soul, and the intellect will unite together. If there are only good thoughts about one another, love, and compassion, this will save the Jewish people from thoughts of murder. Everyone will do true teshuvah (repentance), and the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come, the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, and Mashiach ben David will come swiftly in the blink of an eye, Amen.

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