The True Ohev Yisroel

The Apta Rav once said that he could testify before all the Heavenly Hosts, the Pamalia Shel Maalah, that he was a true Ohev Yisroel. "Whenever I do a mitzvah," he explained, "I say the words, 'LeShem yichud Kudsha Berich Hu uShechintei, beshem kol Yisroel,' to unify Hashem and His Shechinah in the name of all Israel. I have in mind that every Jew, even the lowliest, should have an equal merit and portion in this mitzvah as I do myself. This is true Ahavas Yisroel."

His love for every Jew was so well known that his grandson, the Ramaz of Zhinkov, wrote in the introduction to Ohev Yisroel about the name he chose for his grandfather's sefer. The Apta Rav had treasured the saying that he could be proud of this one trait, and that he could testify before the Beis Din Shel Maalah (the Heavenly Court) that love for Bnei Yisroel was bound to his heart. Before he passed away, he commanded his children that only the words Ohev Yisroel be written on his matzeivah, and so it was.