The Gift for the Rav

It is told that Rav Yisrael was once walking with a gift in his hands. A colleague asked where it was headed, and Rav Yisrael said it was for a certain person. The colleague asked why a messenger could not take it. Rav Yisrael answered that the Torah required him to bring it himself. The colleague, who knew of no such law, was puzzled.

Rav Yisrael explained with a teaching from Yevamos 78b. At the moment Hashem holds a person to account for a misdeed, He also brings that person's merits to mind. We learn from this that whenever we think someone has done wrong, we should dwell on what is good in him. That keeps us from inflating the fault, and lets us see a good person who slipped.

A certain Rav had acted improperly, and Rav Yisrael felt bound to speak with him about it. In doing so he had to bear in mind, and make known, that the man was a talmid chochom. So he was honoring him with a gift, which he might not have given at another time, because the moment of rebuke is the moment to recall a person's merits.

The story adds that a person who holds a grudge forgets everything good about the other, and it urges us to keep the good qualities of others always in mind.