We continue with appreciating that Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha/ Love your friend like you love yourself is a Mitzvah like any other Mitzvah.
The Pele Yoetz writes, on the topic of Avavat Re’im, loving your fellow, that the Jewish people are great. They spend a lot of money, and put in a lot of effort, in order to fill Mitzvot. We spend a lot of money on the Lulav and Etrog, we go through a tremendous amount of trouble to put up our Succot, there is endless effort and money that the Jewish people spend on Mitzvot. Fortunate is their lot. But what hurts, he says, is that there are Mitzvot that people do not put their effort into, and the reason for this is that they don’t consider these as Mitzvot. If it says that one should chase a small Mitzvah like a great Mitzvah, because you don’t know what the reward for Mitzvot are, surely, when it comes to Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha, which we know is a Klal Gadol b’Torah- a great principle of the Torah, you should run after it like you run after your life.
The only reason that we aren’t running after it is because the Yetzer Hara influences us not to fulfill this Mitzvah. Our natural selfish self-love interferes with this. Therefore, he says, you can’t trust yourself. Very often, we wonder whether or not we should do something for a friend. Should you walk that half hour in the cold, because your friend is making an affair on Shabbat? Will it or won’t it make a difference? The Pele Yoetz advises us to ask somebody else, as it says, “Don’t trust your own logic.” Always ask somebody. That is good advice, from the Pele Yoetz.
In his last will and testament to his family the great Sadik, known as the Yesod V’Shoresh HaAvodah, , shared this concept:
A person has to look at this mitzvah (Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha) just like any mitzvah. He gave an example: He once saw that somebody had a small tear in their clothing. Before he went over to tell the man about the tear, he said, “Hashem I am now ready to fulfill the mitzvah of Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha, as You commanded in the Torah.” Then he told his friend, “My friend, my brother, small tears become big tears. Please fix the tear before it gets bigger.” He says that this is a wonderful thing to do. “I testify, my children, that I had a tremendous happiness in my heart after I suggested to this man to sew the tear in his clothing, like I fulfilled the positive mitzvah of putting on tefilin.”
He then quotes same pasuk,
“Be careful with a small Mitzvah like a great one.”
We have unbelievable opportunities to fulfill Mitzvot.
He adds that the examples are never ending, and that he only gave them one small one, in order to show them how easy it is to fulfill the great Mitzvah of Veahavta LeRe’echa Kamocha.