The yetzer hara is a master at making important avodos feel ‘too out of reach’, ‘too lofty’, or ‘unrealistic’. He gets us without us even realizing, because we don’t even bother trying. If we try and stumble, at least we’re trying. But often, there are so many important things we could be striving to attain, but the yetzer hara cools us off from even trying. The above quote tackles the heart of resistance we may feel when thinking about ahavas Yisroel.
The sister quote to this post is “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of the good.” Only the yetzer hara demands perfection. Hashem expects us to be humans, not angels.
When relating to the mitzvah of ahavas Yisroel, we can identify as someone ‘who is trying’ to have ahavas Yisroel. It’s both holy and healthy to be able to say “I don’t know if I’ll ever truly achieve ahavas Yisroel, but I care enough to try.” Once we identify ourselves as someone who cares and wants to be an oheiv Yisroel, we can figure out strategies, small actionable kabbalos, or learning material to help us grow slowly in this area, on our own individual ladders.
R’ Boruch Ber Lebowitz said, “With what merit will I come to the world of truth? Torah? Do I truly have Torah? Fear of Heaven? Do I truly have fear of Heaven? …with but one merit I will come — that I loved Jews!”
I want to be able to say “Hashem, I don’t even know if I was ever considered an ‘oheiv Yisroel’, but at least You know that I tried.”
Trajectory is everything is growth. If you acknowledge something to be important to you, even one tiny action can put you on a track that will develop the middah in you over time. Once you are on the trajectory of ahavas Yisroel, you have your lifetime to achieve it. So don’t ever let the yetzer hara beat you by convincing you that it’s not even worth trying.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 86.
