We’ve been discussing the connection between Ahavat Yisrael and the high holidays.
Hacham Ben Sion Abba Shaul once said that we use the words
Veahavta et Hashem Elokecha-Love Hashem your God
And
Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha-Love your friend like you love yourself, but if a person doesn’t have Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha, he can’t have Ahavat Hashem. He can’t love Hashem.
They are connected.
Hacham Ben Sion had a great level of both.
After his first stroke, his brother was in the hospital with him. The nurse instructed the brother to watch the monitor, that the numbers shouldn’t go too high or too low. Hacham Ben Sion was praying. When he started Keriat Shema and said the words Veahavta et Hashem Elokecha, his numbers went up, and his brother ran to get the nurse. When he came back, the numbers were normal. His brother then realized that when Hacham Ben Sion said the words, Veahavta et Hashem Elokecha bechol Levavcha- Love Hashem with all your heart, he literally loved Hashem with all his heart, causing his heart rate to go up. It then went back to normal.
And regarding his Ahavat Yisrael, Rabbi Yitzhak Zakai tells the following story, that he heard from the person it happened to.
This man’s wife could not handle the children she had, and she was pregnant, so wanted to end the pregnancy, Rachmana Latzlan.
When Hacham Ben Sion heard about this, he asked the man to bring his wife to him. When Hacham Ben Sion spoke to her, she told him that she couldn’t manage raising another child.
So Hacham Ben Sion told her that he’d pay her a very large amount of money to give birth as a surrogate mother, and that he’d raise the child until he/she was ready to get married. He would then invite her to the chuppah as the mother, and that way, she’d have the child without any of the pain.
When the woman saw how much he wanted to have this child in the world, she realized that she wanted it to be her own child, and she changed her mind.
That is a love for every person, for every child, and for every child that isn’t even born yet. That is Ahavat Yisrael, and as we have said, that is what all the Gedolim have.
That is what makes them great.