Divine Ethics Part 7: Love as Compassion

Rabbi Jonathan Saks (of blessed memory) began a talk about chesed in the following way:

Tzedakah is the gift of money or its equivalent. But sometimes that is not what we most need. We can suffer emotional as well as physical poverty. We can be depressed, lonely, close to despair. We may need company or comfort, encouragement or support. These too are human needs, no less real for being untranslatable into the language of politics or economics. That is what ‘chesed’ is about: emotional support, ‘loving-kindness’, love as compassion.

The Mishnah (the written Oral Law, redacted by Rabbi Judah the Prince in the year 200CE) records a list of things one does which have no measure and their reward is felt in this world and the world to come. The list includes tzedakah, learning Torah, as well as many forms of chesed including: bringing people into your home, caring for others, visiting the sick, paying respects to someone who lost a loved one, trying to make peace between friends and trying to greet people with a smile.

Following in God’s Ways

Chesed is an all encompassing mitzvah which finds its source in a verse in the Torah which states, ‘follow God and walk in His ways’. Since God creating the world and human beings is the greatest act of chesed, we should follow suit and perform acts of chesed throughout our lives.

The prophet Micah says it explicitly when he tells the nation: “כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֚וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ:” “What does God want from you? Just to engage in tzedakah and love chesed!” (6:8) Great Rabbis through the years have made sure that every day they should find ways to engage in chesed many times. It can be people we meet on the street, people with whom we work, and of course our own families. Chesed can be as simple as a good morning, friendly smile, common courtesy, or as intense as helping those with physical or mental challenges, lending money to those in need, visiting lonely people in the hospital, etc.

When engaging in chesed we should try to maintain our proper intention and not let our ‘yetzer hara’ (evil inclination) get a hold of us by seeking honor in the acts of kindness we do. Our chesed should be the sincerest action we accomplish without trace of any reward.

The mitzvah of chesed transcends religious affiliation—one should perform acts of kindness for all human beings (and animals!). It is said of the great 1st century CE Rabbi – Yochanan ben Zakai – that he was quick to engage in acts of chesed before anyone and he offered a helping hand to Jews and gentiles in the market place whenever possible. Certainly one should find it in their hearts to act with chesed to all human beings thereby making the world a more kind and loving place.