The paradigm of “Chesed Shel Emet” is taking care of a Meit Mitzva (someone who has passed away and has no one to take care of his final needs.) Whereas acts of Chesed could be cynically understood as always being undertaken in the hope that there will be some sort of return on one’s “investment” of time and resources, if the individual to whom one is tending is totally unknown to you, all skepticism regarding future benefits should be silenced. R. Chaim Sabbato, (Rosh Metivta in Yeshivat Birchat Moshe in Ma’aleh Adumim and winner of literary prizes for his amazing novel Teium Kivanot [Adjusting Sights] about his experiences as a tank gunner during the Yom Kippur War), in his essay on Parashat VaYera, entitled “Mechalkel Chaim B’Chesed” (part of his volume of essays on Parashat HaShavua, Ahavat Tora: Devarim Al Parashat HaShavua) not only “puts a face” upon Biblical models who embodied this exemplary quality, but suggests that the ability to perform such acts of kindness is inherent in all men’s makeup dating from their Creation! Continue reading
Chesed Shel Emet (Kindness for its own Sake)
30 Friday Oct 2015
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