10 Thoughts and Sayings of Rav Aharon Kotler zt”l

Compiled by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

These thoughts and sayings were culled from the first volume of Mishnas Rabbi Aharon

1. One must empathize even when the other gains no benefit.
2. One who does not feel another’s pain, and certainly a community’s pain, violates a grave sin.
3. A man’s actions are measured by how much desire he had to do them in the first place.
4. Spiritual losses are far more devastating than material losses. Spiritual gains far outweigh material gains.
5. A person’s innermost intent, for good or bad, has ramifications for generations to come.
6. The main growth of a human being lies in his ability to accept rebuke.
7. Man was created to help others. If instead he hurts others – he has lost the justification for his existence.
8. One who does not correct his friend’s errors is as if he had caused them.
9. The path to self-perfection involves eliminating contradictions within oneself.
10. All earthly punishment is actually kindness – in that it reduces one’s ultimate punishment.

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