Description: Chapter 3 - 01
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 3 – 01
The Medrash explains a pasuk in Tehillim:
מלפניך משפטי יצא
Hashem tells Dovid, (apparently regarding the story of Bas Shevah,) you have instituted a Sanhedrin, go and have them judge you! Dovid asks Hashem, no, I can’t be judged by them because they don’t accept bribes – shochad! But You Hashem accept shochad, as it says, שחד מחיק רשע יקח. What is the bribe that Hashem accepts? Teshuvah and Maasim Tovim – good deeds. Hashem admonishes us, as long as the gates of repentance are open, take advantage! I still take bribes! But once you come to the world-to-come, bribes are not accepted anymore.
What does this mean? How can we understand a concept of bribes by Hashem Yisborach?
The Chafetz Chaim explains, that in the method how Hashem judges this world we know there is middas hadin, pure strict judgement, and there is middas Hachesed vi’rachamim, judging with mercy and kindness. The way Hashem assesses every single act we take, mitzvah or avairah, teshuvah or not, depends on if it is viewed through the lens of middas hadin or middas harachamim. There is a judgement then passed about the person in totality, can he be considered a tzaddik or a rashah.
When each act of a person is examined, in Shamayim they leave nothing out. They inspect how closely he adhered to halachah, how perfectly the mitzvah was performed, how sensitive he was to all the ramifications of his actions. Then there’s a whole other level of inspection on his thoughts and heart – al kol ne’elam. Hashem sees if you intended li’sheim Shamayim or not, how much simchah you had, how excited you were to do this mitzvah, and how much emunah you had that this is the best thing in the world. Everything plays a role in assessing the mitzvah. If the act is judged with strict din, if it doesn’t measure up – it is discounted, and doesn’t count towards considering him a tzaddik. If so, many of our mitzvos and maasim tovim will be discounted, and our avairos will pile up high, rendering us a rashah.
Even if we did teshuvah – the teshuvah itself has to go through this process, and who can think he has done a perfect teshuvah?
But if Hashem treats us with mercy and kindness, then Hashem accept the mitzvah with all its failings, although there certainly is a difference in how much perfection a person achieved, but the mitzvah is not discounted and can measure into whether he is a tzaddik or not. Likewise, even if a person has many avairos, if he is judged mercifully, Hashem can pick apart the avairos, saying here he was a shogaig, mistaken, not his fault, and other such reasoning to lessen the severity, and thereby change the scale to mostly mitzvos.
If a person wants Hashem to deal with him so, it has to work through the lens of judgement as well. Middas Hadin is not satisfied that a person is getting mercy and kindness if he doesn’t deserve it. Only if the person practiced chessed and kindness himself, he was merciful in his lifetime, then it stands to reason that Hashem should be merciful with him, and the Middas Hadin is placated. As Chazal say: כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמין עליו מן שמים, and as the pasuk says, מפרי פי איש תשבע נפשו, from the fruits of the mouth of a person, his soul will be satiated.
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 3 – 01
The Medrash explains a pasuk in Tehillim:
מלפניך משפטי יצא
Hashem tells Dovid, (apparently regarding the story of Bas Shevah,) you have instituted a Sanhedrin, go and have them judge you! Dovid asks Hashem, no, I can’t be judged by them because they don’t accept bribes – shochad! But You Hashem accept shochad, as it says, שחד מחיק רשע יקח. What is the bribe that Hashem accepts? Teshuvah and Maasim Tovim – good deeds. Hashem admonishes us, as long as the gates of repentance are open, take advantage! I still take bribes! But once you come to the world-to-come, bribes are not accepted anymore.
What does this mean? How can we understand a concept of bribes by Hashem Yisborach?
The Chafetz Chaim explains, that in the method how Hashem judges this world we know there is middas hadin, pure strict judgement, and there is middas Hachesed vi’rachamim, judging with mercy and kindness. The way Hashem assesses every single act we take, mitzvah or avairah, teshuvah or not, depends on if it is viewed through the lens of middas hadin or middas harachamim. There is a judgement then passed about the person in totality, can he be considered a tzaddik or a rashah.
When each act of a person is examined, in Shamayim they leave nothing out. They inspect how closely he adhered to halachah, how perfectly the mitzvah was performed, how sensitive he was to all the ramifications of his actions. Then there’s a whole other level of inspection on his thoughts and heart – al kol ne’elam. Hashem sees if you intended li’sheim Shamayim or not, how much simchah you had, how excited you were to do this mitzvah, and how much emunah you had that this is the best thing in the world. Everything plays a role in assessing the mitzvah. If the act is judged with strict din, if it doesn’t measure up – it is discounted, and doesn’t count towards considering him a tzaddik. If so, many of our mitzvos and maasim tovim will be discounted, and our avairos will pile up high, rendering us a rashah.
Even if we did teshuvah – the teshuvah itself has to go through this process, and who can think he has done a perfect teshuvah?
But if Hashem treats us with mercy and kindness, then Hashem accept the mitzvah with all its failings, although there certainly is a difference in how much perfection a person achieved, but the mitzvah is not discounted and can measure into whether he is a tzaddik or not. Likewise, even if a person has many avairos, if he is judged mercifully, Hashem can pick apart the avairos, saying here he was a shogaig, mistaken, not his fault, and other such reasoning to lessen the severity, and thereby change the scale to mostly mitzvos.
If a person wants Hashem to deal with him so, it has to work through the lens of judgement as well. Middas Hadin is not satisfied that a person is getting mercy and kindness if he doesn’t deserve it. Only if the person practiced chessed and kindness himself, he was merciful in his lifetime, then it stands to reason that Hashem should be merciful with him, and the Middas Hadin is placated. As Chazal say: כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמין עליו מן שמים, and as the pasuk says, מפרי פי איש תשבע נפשו, from the fruits of the mouth of a person, his soul will be satiated.