Description: Chapter 9 - 05
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 9 – 05
The Chafetz Chaim now addresses two other possible reasons why people refrain from chessed. There’s a very natural reaction when we get a letter in the mail, an email blast, about an urgent need. We think, ‘I’m sure the rich people out there will take care of this!’ When there’s chasadim that need to be done, volunteers are needed either for Bikur Cholim, for a taharah, or for whatever other chessed, we tend to think, let someone else do it! I’m not the only person here in this city! This is particularly the case when we have someone in mind that according to our sense of justice – that person should be the one doing this, taking care of this!
The Chafetz Chaim says that this is wrong, simply because how can we know that the other person will indeed take care of the issue? Who says the rich people will donate to this? We can never rely on other people to absolve ourselves from a communal problem. The tendency is that no one does anything, and only a few people, the people who feel responsible and do everything – are the ones who end up taking care of the issues. Their mindset is a true chessed mindset – if there’s a chessed needing to be done, if there’s a person in need, if there’s a family suffering – we have to do something about it – and they do! The truth shines through, in every city I’ve lived in, that there are only a select few people who seem to end up being on the forefront of every chessed initiative. This is invariably because everyone else thinks like the Chafetz Chaim is describing, the Yetzer Horah’s plan b, it’s not your problem! “Someone” will take care of it!
The Chafetz Chaim quotes a teshuvah of the Ridvaz who discusses a poor person who had very rich relatives, but those relatives didn’t want to support him. The Ridvaz says, that it is true that these relatives are halachically obligated to help him, because of the concept of ‘mibesarchah al tisalaim,’ don’t abandon your own flesh and blood, and the concept of ‘achichah kodem,’ your brother comes first, but since they chose not to fulfill their obligation, does this poor person have to starve? If the relatives totally abandoned Torah and Mitzvos, would we say that it’s too bad for this guy – let him try to get money from them? Obviously, the obligation to support poor people is everyone’s obligation! If the relatives give money good, but if not, we are all obligated.
The last point the Chafetz Chaim discusses in this chapter, is when people refrain from doing chessed because they have been burnt before. The most classic case is when you loan someone money and he doesn’t pay back, now you are very reluctant to lend anyone money in fear of being burnt again. The truth is that a person is entitled to take precautions, and demand a collateral or whatever other method works for him, but to totally withdraw from this tremendous mitzvah simply because of one bad apple, is also the handiwork of the Yetzer Horah.
Ahavas Chesed
Chapter 9 – 05
The Chafetz Chaim now addresses two other possible reasons why people refrain from chessed. There’s a very natural reaction when we get a letter in the mail, an email blast, about an urgent need. We think, ‘I’m sure the rich people out there will take care of this!’ When there’s chasadim that need to be done, volunteers are needed either for Bikur Cholim, for a taharah, or for whatever other chessed, we tend to think, let someone else do it! I’m not the only person here in this city! This is particularly the case when we have someone in mind that according to our sense of justice – that person should be the one doing this, taking care of this!
The Chafetz Chaim says that this is wrong, simply because how can we know that the other person will indeed take care of the issue? Who says the rich people will donate to this? We can never rely on other people to absolve ourselves from a communal problem. The tendency is that no one does anything, and only a few people, the people who feel responsible and do everything – are the ones who end up taking care of the issues. Their mindset is a true chessed mindset – if there’s a chessed needing to be done, if there’s a person in need, if there’s a family suffering – we have to do something about it – and they do! The truth shines through, in every city I’ve lived in, that there are only a select few people who seem to end up being on the forefront of every chessed initiative. This is invariably because everyone else thinks like the Chafetz Chaim is describing, the Yetzer Horah’s plan b, it’s not your problem! “Someone” will take care of it!
The Chafetz Chaim quotes a teshuvah of the Ridvaz who discusses a poor person who had very rich relatives, but those relatives didn’t want to support him. The Ridvaz says, that it is true that these relatives are halachically obligated to help him, because of the concept of ‘mibesarchah al tisalaim,’ don’t abandon your own flesh and blood, and the concept of ‘achichah kodem,’ your brother comes first, but since they chose not to fulfill their obligation, does this poor person have to starve? If the relatives totally abandoned Torah and Mitzvos, would we say that it’s too bad for this guy – let him try to get money from them? Obviously, the obligation to support poor people is everyone’s obligation! If the relatives give money good, but if not, we are all obligated.
The last point the Chafetz Chaim discusses in this chapter, is when people refrain from doing chessed because they have been burnt before. The most classic case is when you loan someone money and he doesn’t pay back, now you are very reluctant to lend anyone money in fear of being burnt again. The truth is that a person is entitled to take precautions, and demand a collateral or whatever other method works for him, but to totally withdraw from this tremendous mitzvah simply because of one bad apple, is also the handiwork of the Yetzer Horah.