Living Torah Archives

Moshe Kagan is a consultant living in Jerusalem, Israel. In the early 1960s, he arrived from England to attend yeshiva in 770. He was one of the few Yeshiva students with a driver’s license, and it worked in his favor. He was one of a group of students who got together to launch a new project – a mobile mitzvah vehicle.

Rabbi Raphael Aron is the director of the Gateway family Counseling Centre in Melbourne, Australia. In 1974, while running the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Melbourne, he had an audience with the Rebbe. At the time, he was looking for a way to deal with the opposition they were receiving for the rambunctious nature of their Mitzvah campaigns. The Rebbe’s response was somewhat surprising, and has remained with him since.

Through the years of the Rebbe’s leadership, he launched a total of ten campaigns which encouraged and promoted the observance of various commandments. Each campaign had a clear and obvious mission, yet the Campaign of Ahavas Yisrael -- love of one’s fellow, had not been clearly defined. Here the Rebbe explains why.

It is the responsibility of every Jew to bring others close to Torah and Mitzvos. The Ten Mitzvah Campaigns form the basis for this effort. But they all begin with the Mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel – to love one’s fellow Jew. When we reach out to others with love, then both we and those we reach are deeply inspired to strengthen the observance of all Mitzvos.