There is a halacha in Shulchan Aruch ( siman רמז) in Yoreh Deah, Laws of Charity:
כל המרחם על העניים הקב"ה מרחם עליו
Whoever has mercy on the poor, God has mercy on them.
That’s important.
We are in the month of Elul, which, when announced in Sephardic communities as a new month, is called “Elul Rachamim/ Elul Mercy.”
This is the month of mercy. If we want to arouse God’s mercy, we need to have mercy on others. The Rama adds, “A person should place to his heart that just like he asks Hashem for his parnassa, and wants Hashem to listen to him, so too, he should listen to the cry of the poor.”
With the outbreak of World War 2, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, who we will call the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish people, instructed his student, Rav Eliezer Silver (there is a whole book written about him) to establish the Vaad Hatzalah, an organization established to offer relief to the Jewish people of Europe, who, at the time, were under fire. Rav Silver told him that he would be more successful in his efforts if he had someone who could describe, in writing, the work of the Vaad Hatzalah. He chose Dr. Samuel Schmidt, who was originally from Kovno, Europe, but had gone to America and graduated MIT. He was an irreligious socialist, but he was devoted to Rabbi Silver and agreed to travel to Europe to see, first hand, the work of the Vaad Hatzalah.
At that point, Rav Chaim Ozer was in his final illness. When Dr. Schmidt came to see him, Rav Chaim placed his hand on Dr Schmidt’s shoulder in a gesture of warmth and respect, and greeted him as “Reb Shmuel.”
This irreligious Dr. Samuel, who was not eating kosher or keeping Shabbat, responded, “Rabbi, if only you knew who I was, you wouldn’t call me Reb Shmuel.”
Rav Chaim Ozer countered, “If you could leave your family, and the security of America, to travel to war torn Europe, you are indeed Rav Shmuel!”
At that point, a metamorphosis occurred. Dr. Schmidt became Reb Shmuel. He became a fully observant Jew, just from that warmth of this Gadol HaDor, and the respect he had for what the doctor was doing for the Jewish people.
Before the doctor return to America, he received a message that Rav Chaim Ozer wanted to see him. When he arrived, the Gadol HaDor gave him a letter to take back to the United States. He thought it must a very important letter, but when he was on the boat, he noticed that it was addressed to his wife. The leader of European Jewry had taken the time to thank her, for allowing her husband to leave the tranquility of America to travel to war torn Europe and execute a mission on behalf of the Jewish people.
That is how a Gadol looks at things, and that is how we should look at things. It is about having mercy, and going out of your comfort zone, for others.