אות - קיט

I do not recall the exact course of the discussion, but I do remember that the Rebbe ended by saying, “If people would only hold on to this ….” With his gestures, he emphasized how important “this” is — “this” meaning one's pleasure in and strong desire for a fellow Jew to succeed and excel in serving God, even if one himself is unable to, God forbid. This is quite a high level. [The Rebbe’s intent was that there is something to grasp hold of even if you cannot attain a high level yourself. You can still hope that others attain what is beyond your reach.]

I also remember that the Rebbe said he would be pleased that even if he is not worthy of serving God, then at least another Jew should serve Him. He said this is a very important thing to grasp. I heard this from the Rebbe’s own lips.

It seems obvious to me. Even though I may not be worthy, I still long for everyone to be truly righteous. I would like nothing better than for all my friends to be great tzaddikim. This would be my greatest expression of love and friendship.

This is how you must love your fellow man. You should want him to attain his true goal in life as ordained by God’s goodness. This is true Jewish love. It is explained in the Rebbe’s lesson on the verse, “For He who has mercy on them will lead them” (Isaiah 49:10; Likutey Moharan II, 7) .

There are people who fall in their level of religious devotion or they can be snared by their evil temptations and literally be trapped in sin. Many such people hate those who are still religious. They provoke them, discouraging and degrading them in every way possible. They do everything in their power to drag them to their low level, proclaiming that these religious Jews will eventually fall away just as they have.

Many of our youth today have a strong desire to be truly religious. They spend much time in study and pray with all their heart, in great devotion. But those who have fallen ridicule and insult these young people. They discourage them by saying that all their devotion is really nothing.

This is nothing more than jealousy. They have fallen away and therefore want others to be just like them. But a true Jew must do the exact opposite. He should want others to serve God, even when he himself is unable to do so.