Lechteich Mussar Podcast
Join us as we explore the depth of bitachon, as explained in the timeless sefer Shaar HaBitachon.
Lechteich Mussar Podcast
Beis HaLevi #30 - Ahavas Yisroel
Mazel tov on completing the essay of the Beis HaLevi on Ahavas Yisroel! Stay tuned...
"In his brilliant essay on ahavas Yisrael, the Beis HaLevi, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, beautifully explains the mitzvah of loving your fellow Jew. Who does the mitzvah apply to? When does it apply? What do I need to do to fulfill it properly? The Beis HaLevi also provides incentives to help us do the mitzvah in the best possible way." -ArtScroll Bais HaLevi on Ahavas Yisroel
Okay, everybody, welcome back to the Lech Teich Moshe podcast. We continue with the last leg of the Sefer. B'eis, levin, hava, sisol, ending, paraket, aleph, chapter 11. We're about to make a mazl tov on our third Sefer and we are going to finish up.
Speaker 1:We spoke yesterday about the importance of realizing that, when it comes to midos, midos rois, it's not to jump, to pivot from one bad character trait to another. Rather it's working on ourselves, working on the core issue, the root of the problem, and not to jump from one to the next, because often it all sources and stems to the same thing. And with the particular examples that we gave yesterday about Hanufa and Sina. So we said Sina brings hurban to the world, it brings miscarriages to the world. So we said, oh, maybe he'll be machnef people flatter people and then he won't have sin as chinam. But the Bais Leiv explained how this is a faulty and erroneous way of thinking because either way it's a vicious cycle and he's going to end up being korban to the world anyway. And the way to really do it is with self-work, hard work, being patient, persistent and working with extreme resolve, and not getting bent out of shape, miyush, despondent by the pitfalls, but focusing on the end goal, which is always the goal of Shlema Tz'adam.
Speaker 1:We finish up with the last parakh, v'zau Akosov, everything that we've said yesterday and what we just summarized just now, al-kain. Therefore, over the young men, he will not rejoice, he will not be merciful for their hypocritical flatterers and evil. This means that flattery is not because he is good Out of goodness to his fellow. He flatters him. What does it mean? What does it mean? It's not because goodness out of his heart or because he loves his friend. It's because it's an evil source in his heart towards his fellow. And the reason he flatters him is because he's saying you're. Why is he saying you're righteous? If it's bad, it's because of the fact that he is not aware that there's a bigger picture, that there's the Eberster. And when he does Hanifa, when he condones the wrong things, ultimately he's going to bring punishment to them. Midr kanegrimidr shol erachem aleim kishem shol lo yireichem al chaveir lo yichich l'toiv, and the fact that he withheld mercy from his friend Hashem will not give him the compassion that he needs that we all so badly need.
Speaker 1:One should not hate your brother. You shall surely admonish your fellow. So if you have to love a brother, why do you have to admonish him? The answer is because sometimes it's hard, brother. Why do you have to admonish him? The answer is because sometimes it's hard and sometimes we think that admonishing and chastising and giving proper emistikot isn't loving, but, says the Torah, puts the two, it juxtaposes, makes the two. To remind us that if you really love your brother, you're going to look out and you're going to ensure his ultimate and best welfare, and that's when he's the best version of himself possible, instead of turning a blind eye, instead of lauding him for his bad behavior, instead and that is juxtaposed Don't hate him, because if you really love him, you're going to give him the most that he needs For withholding.
Speaker 1:Admonishment comes from hatred in the heart. If you love him in your heart, admonishment will follow. As the Zohar writes, the commandment to rebuke one who has sinned is to indicate the supreme love that he loves the sinner. Not hate, not upset, not angry, but love. This is the continuation of the Pasach and Mishle. One who tells a wicked person you are righteous, nations will denounce him, but those who had manna should be pleasant and good Blessing will come upon them. One should not think, one should not say to themselves that, by means of admonishment, hatred increases the other rabbi. On the contrary. On the contrary, he himself will see and witness the great benefit, the great te'eles, that the one who admonishes him did for him and the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes him did for him. And the one who admonishes, as the positive commission says, one who reproves a person will later find favor.
Speaker 1:If your friend is doing the wrong thing, if your friend is doing acts that do not bring Kvot Shemaim, that won't make Hashem happy, one can think. You can think, oh, let me turn a blind eye, let me not tell him. But we're learning now. That's not loving your friend, that's not caring for him. On the contrary, that's that's hating your friend. When a person is able to go to his friend and tell him my dear friend, you're much better. This is below your dignity, below your. That's love, that's ahava.
Speaker 1:And we have all these psukim behind us that we've learned, backing us up, fortifying us with the courage that not only will we be happy for doing the Mitzvah of loving our friends, but even our friends that are doing a virus that obviously they've slipped, it's a mistake, they lost themselves or whatever else it may be.
Speaker 1:Of course we're Danakav, but at the same time they will come to thank us, they will come to love us and through this mitzvah of Haychacha Be'ez, hashem will bring more K'vayit Shemaim, more Mamlech Eskehanim V'Gay Kaddish. And in turn, may Hashem be Pideh U'matzalos. May he save us, may he redeem the long awaited month of Nisan where, hopefully, the whole avirah of geula permeates the air. May Hashem bring us to the geula and all the things that we learned about Sines Chinam. May we just be zayche to the brachas of Ahavas Chinam. May we be zayche to the geula of Bekarav with the Binyin Bayesh Lishi B'mherav Aminu. Amen, mazel Tov. On the completion of Bais HaLevi on Ahavos Yisrael. Looking forward to beginning the third Sefer of the Bais HaLevi on another Bais HaShem tomorrow.