Description: Chapter 9 - 03
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 9 – 03
The Chafetz Chaim gives an example how we tend to react to requests for chesed. The Chafetz Chaim gives this example in a situation where someone comes and asks you for a loan. Even if you trust that the person will pay you back, a person will find all kinds of excuses why he can’t lend the money right now. Either I have it in my house, next time I go home I’ll try to remember to get the money – which rarely happens. Or I have a $100 and I don’t want to break it up. Or you will refer him to someone else, and so on. I’d like to give a common example by us. When someone asks for a ride, maybe from a chasanah in Baltimore to Silver Spring, or vice versa, or sometimes even a short ride from one place to another, how many times have we found all kinds of reasons why we can’t give a ride? Maybe we’ll say, I’m planning on making a stop somewhere, or you’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m not headed in that direction,’ although it’s just a few minutes out of your way, or we’ll say, ‘I’m leaving this minute,’ when we know the person needs a couple of minutes more, or we’ll say, ‘Why don’t you ask so and so?’ All exactly as the Chafetz Chaim demonstrated with a loan – we can have the same reaction to a simple chesed.
Even if we perform the chesed, if we really didn’t want to, we will be unhappy and annoyed. We might even let it get to us to the point where we show it on our faces or demonstrate it with our actions, like not being interested in conversation.
However, if we would only realize that this is equivalent to someone offering us a crazy deal – just invest a couple of dollars, or a little awkwardness, give up a little privacy, and you will make 50% return on your investment – we would run! All the excuses would go up in smoke. If the person asking for a ride has information for us that we really need, or is an influential person that we’d love to make a contact with – we’d have no problem at all driving wherever!
If we’d appreciate the value of chesed we would realize that all we have to give is a few minutes of our time and comfort, or a few dollars that we have, and we are receiving in return a mitzvas asay min hatorah, an amazing investment which has no limit to it’s schar. We should rejoice and our faces should shine with happiness when we perform this mitzvah – Hashem has given us a golden opportunity! The pasuk in Mishlei says, ‘rodaif tzedakah va’chesed yimtzah chayim.’ Chasing chesed rewards us with life! Likewise, Chazal say that the poor man is doing a much greater service to the Baal Habayis, then the Baal Habayis is doing for him with his donation.
Why then don’t we think like that? It can only be that the Yetzer Horah has successfully convinced us that this isn’t really a mitzvah, just a good midah! What’s the solution? Learn about the mitzvah and understand that it really is a Torah obligation and a chiyuv, and how great the schar for this mitzvah is! (Which we are trying to do right here!)
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 9 – 03
The Chafetz Chaim gives an example how we tend to react to requests for chesed. The Chafetz Chaim gives this example in a situation where someone comes and asks you for a loan. Even if you trust that the person will pay you back, a person will find all kinds of excuses why he can’t lend the money right now. Either I have it in my house, next time I go home I’ll try to remember to get the money – which rarely happens. Or I have a $100 and I don’t want to break it up. Or you will refer him to someone else, and so on. I’d like to give a common example by us. When someone asks for a ride, maybe from a chasanah in Baltimore to Silver Spring, or vice versa, or sometimes even a short ride from one place to another, how many times have we found all kinds of reasons why we can’t give a ride? Maybe we’ll say, I’m planning on making a stop somewhere, or you’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m not headed in that direction,’ although it’s just a few minutes out of your way, or we’ll say, ‘I’m leaving this minute,’ when we know the person needs a couple of minutes more, or we’ll say, ‘Why don’t you ask so and so?’ All exactly as the Chafetz Chaim demonstrated with a loan – we can have the same reaction to a simple chesed.
Even if we perform the chesed, if we really didn’t want to, we will be unhappy and annoyed. We might even let it get to us to the point where we show it on our faces or demonstrate it with our actions, like not being interested in conversation.
However, if we would only realize that this is equivalent to someone offering us a crazy deal – just invest a couple of dollars, or a little awkwardness, give up a little privacy, and you will make 50% return on your investment – we would run! All the excuses would go up in smoke. If the person asking for a ride has information for us that we really need, or is an influential person that we’d love to make a contact with – we’d have no problem at all driving wherever!
If we’d appreciate the value of chesed we would realize that all we have to give is a few minutes of our time and comfort, or a few dollars that we have, and we are receiving in return a mitzvas asay min hatorah, an amazing investment which has no limit to it’s schar. We should rejoice and our faces should shine with happiness when we perform this mitzvah – Hashem has given us a golden opportunity! The pasuk in Mishlei says, ‘rodaif tzedakah va’chesed yimtzah chayim.’ Chasing chesed rewards us with life! Likewise, Chazal say that the poor man is doing a much greater service to the Baal Habayis, then the Baal Habayis is doing for him with his donation.
Why then don’t we think like that? It can only be that the Yetzer Horah has successfully convinced us that this isn’t really a mitzvah, just a good midah! What’s the solution? Learn about the mitzvah and understand that it really is a Torah obligation and a chiyuv, and how great the schar for this mitzvah is! (Which we are trying to do right here!)