In the middle of the last century, a leading European rabbi, the Brisker Rav, told his congregants on Kol Nidre night to bring money the next morning. As you can imagine, the congregants were dumbfounded but trusting their rabbi absolutely, they came his money to synagogue Yom Kippur day. He explained to them that, “I asked you to violate the sanctity of the holiest day of the year because I received word before Kol Nidre that a socialist, Bundist, was going to be shot this afternoon unless we come up with a ransom.” Many in the congregation angry that they were asked to violate the sanctity of Yom Kippur for a non-observant Jew who stood against everything they believed. But the rabbi said to them, "Doesn’t the Torah demand that we love our neighbor as yourself? He’s a Jew.”
What does this story say to us at this moment?
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