Divrei Eikev
The Cycle of Chesed II
This week’s parsha begins with, “This shall be the reward when you hearken to these ordinances, and you observe and perform them; HaShem, your G-d, will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. (7:12) HaRav Baruch Epstein, the author of Torah Temimah, brings the Yerushalmi: “A Braisa: HaShem gave three good presents to Israel: [that they should be] merciful, bashful, and bestowers of kindness . . . From where do we learn about bestowers of kindness? ‘”HaShem, your G-d, will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness.’” (Kiddushin 4:1, not 1:1, as in some editions) Asks the Torah Temimah, “The verse seems to be discussing HaShem’s kindness to us, yet the Yerushalmi’s braisa understands it as referring to our own kindness?!? Perhaps, says the Torah Temimah, this is an application of the concept of middah k’neged middah (see Sotah 9b): here, when we bestow chesed, HaShem in turn bestows chesed upon us. A Jew in Park Heights gives tzedakah; a Jew in Washington Heights finally finds a job. A Jew in York cleans the dishes without being asked; a Jew in New York suddenly meets his zivug.
To understand this concept better, a working definition of “gemilas chesed” is required. HaRav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l defines “chesed” as “devoting oneself entirely to another,” as opposed to merely extending oneself. (Ber. 47:29) “Gomel,” on the other hand, is an act of enabling another to be independent (ibid, 21:8), which corresponds to the highest level of tzedakah, as defined by the Rambam (Hil. Matanos LaAni’im 10:7) Even when that goal is impossible (such as when your recipient is a newborn baby), one should strive for the optimal chesed available. Taken together, the phrase “gemilas chesed” tells us the proper path: careful, intellectual planning, then a complete leap, not just “charity.”
Logically, if we wish to constantly receive Hashem’s flow of goodness, we must in turn become baalei chesed, givers by nature, not just deed. How? The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 16) brings a key principle to human behavior: a person is drawn after his actions. Keep doing acts of chesed, and you will become a ba’al chesed. Starting is easy. The brachah “Boreh Nefashos” contains a yesod: “v’chesronam -- with their needs.” Everyone (including you!) has needs. Your task is to find them, figure the best way to fill them, and fill them.
We can understand how to bring chesed into our interpersonal mitzvos, such as kibud av v’aim, but what about more ritualized mitzvos, such as tallis? True, we can lend and give tallesim to others, but what about the actual act of donning a tallis? HaRav Avigdor Miller, zt”l gave one example. He explained that when we gather the tzitzis before atifah, we should look behind us, so that no one can be hurt when we swing the tzitizis over our shoulder. (Having been on the receiving end of such an incident, I can say: It hurts.)
The Rambam in Hilchos Deos (1:5) labels one who goes beyond the letter of the law (in this case, deviating from the middle between two extremes of a character trait) “a chasid." He adds, "And this is the way of chassidus.” Why choose to use the word “chasid” here? Wouldn’t “mosif” be more accurate? What’s more, Chassidic streams do not define Chassidus as merely taking extra burdens upon oneself as a path of serving HaShem. For example, “Whenever anyone asked [a Breslaver rav] ‘What is the Breslaver custom in such and such a case?’ the answer was, ‘Look in the Shulchan Aruch. Whatever is written there, that’s what Rebbe Nachman did.’” (Crossing the Narrow Bridge, p. 403) Perhaps the Rambam intended us to understand that by infusing every mitzvah with chesed, we are indeed true Chasidim, conduits for bringing HaShem’s boundless goodness to this world.
The power of this virtuous cycle has no limits. The Slonimer Rav writes (1:99) “If a person will do chesed with a community, enormous rachamim and chesed are brought down from shamayim.” Because it forms a key component of our relationship with HaShem (and His, with us), the Yetzer Hara focuses upon breaking it and thereby forming in turn a vicious cycle, in which our selfishness leads to HaShem’s withholding of His goodness from us. He therefore throws his energies to thwart our chesed activities, any way he can. In fact, the spiritually sensitive can actually use the yetzer hara’s machinations for a good purpose. For example, a meshulach once came to Volozhin and began collecting from the townsfolk. All were surprised when HaRav Chaim Volozhin zt”l, who was known for his generosity, listened to the man’s very plausible story and refused to give. Doesn’t the Torah command us not to close our hands to the poor? Their surprise turned to astonishment when the man was discovered to be a fraud. Was Reb Chaim given ruach hakodesh? “No,” he said when asked, “the man was quite believable. Normally, whenever I give tzedakah, I feel a strong urge not to give. This time, however, I actually felt a push to give to him. I suspected something, and I was right!”