Introduction to Ahavat Yisrael Welcome to our new series on Ahavat Yisrael, loving your fellow Jew . These short, daily lessons will be based on the text of the Bet HaLevi. In the same manuscript in which the Bet HaLevi wrote about Bitachon (and for which he is most famous), that was a released many years after he passed away, there was also this essay on Ahavat Yisrael loving your fellow Jew. He starts off with the words, “ Loving every, individual (Jew) is a positive commandment, as it says, “Veahavta L’Re’echa Kamocha love your friends like you love yourself.” It is interesting to note that his essay on Bitachon starts with the same wording, that it is a Mitzvah to have Bitachon, and the lack of it is a sin. The Bet HaLevi was a tremendous Yareh Shamayim/very God-fearing, and nothing drove him more than fulfilling a mitzvah. We tend to get very busy with with the hands-on Mitzvot, such as lulav and etrog , mezuzot , Tefilin , baking challah , etc…we all like to do things. But the Hovot HaLevavot tells us that there are also Mitzvot that you fulfill with your heart. Loving your fellow man is a Mitzvah of the heart. Since it is indeed a mitzvah, we have to put the same emphasis (or possibly even more, as we will soon see) on loving our fellow Jew as we do on our matzot for Pesach, or our wine for Kiddush. So the Bet HaLevi starts off by prodding us that we are dealing with one of the 613 Commandments of the Torah. That is a powerful driving force. And the Elder of Kelm says that there is no other opportunity to fulfill tens of thousands of Mitzvot in one second than the Mitzvah of Veahavta L’Re’echa Kamocha!! He says that no other mitzvah can give a person this opportunity, because for every individual Jew, there is a separate command to love him. So if there are millions of Jews in that world, we have to love them all, and in that one second, when we feel love for all the Jewish people, we are fulfilling millions of mitzvot. He says that that is why the Yetzer Hara not to love our fellow Jew is so strong- because he wants to take away our treasures, the wealth that we can accrue in that second. This is something we can do every, single second, and earn millions and millions of Mitzvot. Therefore, we will begin this track, getting a dose of Avahat Yisrael daily. Hopefully, with it, we will reap all the benefits that Ahavat Yisrael has to offer. The very first thing that you can do is share this with your friends. Wouldn’t you like it if your friend heard a nice thought on Ahavat Yisrael, and shared it with you? Have a wonderful day.