A Story for Shabbat: Judging Every Jew with Kindness: The Belzer Rebbe’s Way

"You’re from America?" the Admor (Rebbe) Rabbi Aharon of Belz asked with wonder when an Orthodox Jew from the United States came to visit him. In those days, such visits were rare. "Tell me, how are the Jews doing in America?"

The visitor began to answer: "The Jews there only come to synagogue on the High Holidays..." He was about to add that they don’t pray during the rest of the year. But Rabbi Aharon gently interrupted: "During the rest of the year, they surely pray at home..."

That was the essence of Rabbi Aharon of Belz. This holy tzaddik (a deeply righteous man) simply couldn’t hear anything negative about a fellow Jew, no matter how far they seemed from tradition. He always found a way to judge others favorably, often using his sharp wit and creative thinking to do so.

When he saw a Jew not wearing a kippah, he would say, "He must be following the opinion that a kippah is only required when reciting a blessing." And if someone didn’t recite blessings well, that explained why they never wore a kippah... though of course, he never said this part out loud.

About Jews who didn’t keep Shabbat, he would say they must not realize that Shabbat had started. Maybe they didn’t know it was Shabbat at all.

One of the doctors who treated Rabbi Aharon during his time living in Tel Aviv was a secular Jew. One day, one of the Rabbi’s Hasidim (devoted followers) came to report to him: “This doctor drives on Shabbat. It’s not right. You should say something.”

Rabbi Aharon looked at the Hasid and asked gently, “Who told you it was already Shabbat when he drove? Maybe it was still before sunset?” The Hasid insisted that it was already dark and Shabbat had clearly begun.

Later, when the doctor came to visit again, Rabbi Aharon greeted him with kindness and said, “One of my Hasidim claims he saw you driving on Shabbat. I told him it was surely before sunset. Tell me was I right?”

The doctor, touched by the Rabbi’s warmth and the way he left him a way to save face, said with a small smile, “Whatever the Rabbi says... the Rabbi is always right.”

The Hasidim later said that not long after, the doctor, deeply moved by Rabbi Aharon’s gentle approach and refusal to shame him, began to change his ways and return to a life of mitzvot (Jewish observance).

But Rabbi Aharon didn’t stop at judging favorably. Whenever possible, he looked for a way to help a person grow without calling their actions "sins" or labeling them as wrong. Instead, he would speak only of improving or elevating the current situation.

One such moment happened with a relative of Rabbi Aharon. Before the Holocaust, this relative had become involved in Zionist movements and, after immigrating to Israel, distanced himself from Torah and mitzvot. Without his religious family around, he let go of his spiritual path. When Rabbi Aharon himself arrived in Israel, this relative tried to avoid being seen near him. Outwardly, he presented himself as a Torah-observant Jew.

In those early years of the State of Israel, most people didn’t have refrigerators. Instead, they used ice boxes to keep food cold, replacing a block of ice every couple of days. Private refrigerators were very expensive and uncommon.

One Shabbat, one of Rabbi Aharon’s attendants came in, visibly upset. “I just saw your relative,” he told the Rebbe, “standing in line in the middle of town on Shabbat to buy a block of ice!” The attendant couldn’t hold it in. Though he knew the Rabbi disliked hearing anything negative about a fellow Jew, he felt the need to say it.

Rabbi Aharon didn’t respond immediately. But on Sunday, he sent for his relative. When the man arrived, the Rabbi greeted him with warmth and said, “I heard you use an ice box in your home. Please take this money and buy yourself a refrigerator.”

There was no mention of Shabbat, no harsh words. Just quiet, loving support, and an invitation to grow.