In the course of a fight with a Christian fisherman, a Jew dealt him a blow which led to his death. The infuriated Christians of Narbonne, France, started rioting and attacking the Jewish community.
The governor of Narbonne, Don Aymeric, quickly intervened, and dispatched a contingent of soldiers to protect the Jewish community. The riot was immediately halted and all the spoils stolen during the riots were returned to the Jews. The 21st of Adar was recorded as "Purim Narbonne," a day when the community annually celebrated this historic event.
The great Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) was one of the elite disciples of Rabbi DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, and a colleague of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. He is also widely known as the No'am Elimelech, the title of the renowned chassidic work he authored.
Rabbi Elimelech attracted many thousands of chassidim, among them many who after his passing became great chassidic masters in their own right. Most notable amongst them was Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz, the "Seer of Lublin." Many of the current chassidic dynasties trace themselves back to Rabbi Elimelech.
Link: R. Elimelech of Lizhensk
Behind intolerance hides the most primal sense of ego, a clandestine belief that “I and my kind are the only thing that should be.”
People may give reasons for their intolerance, but the reasons are secondary. They despise others for the space they consume. Stripped to the bone, it is senseless hatred without reason.
It is the core of all evil. It is what holds the human soul in exile from the garden.
And its only cure is in unbridled acts of kindness, in opening your heart to the other guy regardless of how different and distant the other guy may be.
Caring beyond reason.