A story on Ahavas Yisroel

Hi everyone... here's a short story with an everlasting lesson!
(yikes, I hope Miri never said it by 5-min focus! lol!)

So there was once a Chossid who was put in jail (in russia, i assume!) and one day in mid of nowhere, he was released. He had nothing with him, no fresh clothes, so he left the jail with his prison garb and went on his way to find a place to sleep for the night. Finally, he found a house, knocked on the door, and the Jewish home-owner refused to allow this Chossid into his home, because it appeared as if he escaped from prison... and who would want an escaped prisoner in their home for the night? The Chossid was freezing, and he pretty much realized that he should just say Shema & Vidui that night, and that would be the end of his life. As he was saying vidui, a thought popped in his mind "Tomorrow morning, the home-owner will wake up and see me dead on his steps - imagine how horrible he will feel when he realizes that I died because of him" With that courage he stood up & banged on the door with all the energy he had, until the homeowner let him in.

The amazing message is, in case it wasn't clear... he was ready to die - period. but when he thought about how another person would feel horribly guilty, that's when he got up and knocked on the door... not for himself... but for this other person! This is real Ahavas Yisroel.... amazing!!!!