וה' פקד את שרה כאשר אמר ויעש ה' לשרה כאשר דבר ... (כא-א)
The Torah tells us how Sarah Imeinu conceived her child after Avraham Avinu davened for Avimelech, the king of Gerar, who had kidnapped her and was punished with impotence. Hashem answered Avraham’s tefillos by granting him his own heart’s desire: a newborn baby boy. Rashi impresses upon us the importance of true Ahavas Yisroel by stating: “One who prays for his friend, and he is in need of the same thing, he is answered first.” The Tiferes Shmuel points out that the “kuntz” is to daven for your friend the same way that you daven for yourself! The amount of kavana and heartfelt expression that goes into your own tefillos should be part and parcel of the tefillos on behalf of your friend. There is nothing so dear to Hashem than sincere love for another person. This is the greatest נחת רוח we can give to our Father in Heaven!
The Noam Elimelech writes that chessed with other people and love of Hashem is directly proportional. If you want to know how much Ahavas Hashem you have, consider how much you truly love other people. How much do you love to do chessed? How much do you feel another’s pain or joy? This reveals a lot about your relationship with Hashem.
It is told that the Rebbe, R’ Elimelech of Lizhensk zt”l, went into golus, a personal self-imposed exile, for two years. He wandered from town to town and village to village for the entire length of his golus until he finally returned home. When he entered his hometown he was told, “Eliezer is sick.” He ran into his home and was greatly relieved to find out that the sick child was not his own son Eliezer. After a moment though, he berated himself. “Elimelech, if after two years of golus to improve your ruchnius, you can still differentiate between your own child and someone else’s child, then you have not accomplished anything!” Immediately, he walked out of the house and went into golus for another full year!
Let us elevate our בין אדם לחבירו so that we may cultivate a loving relationship with our Creator - בין אדם למקום!