Parshas Beshalach: The Utopian World of Kindness

“With your kindness you have led this people that You redeemed; You led with Your might to Your holy abode.” –Exodus 15:13

WITH YOUR KINDNESS YOU HAVE LED THIS PEOPLE: This refers to acts of kindness;
YOU LED WITH YOUR MIGHT: This refers to Torah –Pesikta

When the Jews were in Egypt, they assembled and made a covenant to be kind to one another, to serve G-d alone, not to forsake the Holy Tongue, and not to learn the Egyptian vernacular… –Tana D’vei Eliyahu Perek 23

What possessed the Jews to make a covenant of kindness in Egypt? The Chafetz Chaim explains that the situation in Egypt became absolutely unbearable. Therefore the Jews decided to pull some Heavenly strings. Knowing that G-d is by definition kind, as he created the world solely to bestow kindness, (Olam Chesed Yibaneh) they figured that invoking the principle of Imitatio dei/ imitating G-d and performing acts of kindness will make their case for G-d to be kind to them and redeem them. In fact it worked. The redemption was a result of the Jews acts of kindness in Egypt, and the uninterrupted Torah study that continued throughout their stay in Egypt (by the Tribe of Levi), as the verse remarks.

Today we need the Final Redemption more than ever before. How do we go about bringing that redemption? The way to bring the Messiah is by engaging in acts of kindness. In the Jerusalem phonebook for the Torah community, there are seventy nine pages containing hundreds of services provided by regular people for free or for cost purely for the sake of being kind, otherwise known as a Gemach. They have a diaper and pacifier gemach if you run out of them on Shabbos or at 3 AM. There are Gemach’s that give out free chick peas for a shalom zachor, (I actually made use of that one!) lend baby cribs, (and this one as well) a lost children gemach, pillows, purim costumes, staple guns, etc. You name it, they have it.

And then you have Aba and Pamela Clayman of the Old City of Jerusalem who host hundreds of Israeli soldiers in their home overlooking the Temple Mount every week to experience some food and Torah; Rabbi and Mrs. Machlus whose small apartment stretches to accommodate well over a hundred guests from all walks of life every Shabbos; The Jerusalem Chicken lady who feeds nine hundred people chicken every single week, Rabbi Jeff Seidel and Rabbi Meir Shuster who set people up for meals at the Kosel/ Western Wall every Shabbos. Rabbi Benny Fischer and Rabbi Avrohom Elimelech Firrer who provide free medical information and arrangements. The list goes on. The common denominator is that these individuals all took matters into their own hands. No bureaucratic committees or organizations started these people off. It started off as their own initiative.

The greatest kindness possible is to share our Jewish Heritage with others. In a very short period, three great rabbis who exemplified the trait of kindness to the utmost degree were taken from our midst. These rabbis were all entirely devoted to the cause, to the extent that their very lives were entirely consumed by their mission. Each one had a different nuance, but they all had the same mission: Help Jews wherever they are come closer to their birthright. Two months ago we lost Rabbi and Rebbetzin Holtzberg in Mumbai, India when they were brutally murdered in their Chabad Center. Last week we lost Rabbi Avraham Ravitz who founded the Israeli division of Ohr Sameach, and subsequently served as chairman of the Degel Hotorah Political Party. And today we lost Rabbi Noach Weinberg, the founder of Aish Hatorah. Chabad, Ohr Sameach, and Aish Hatorah all have different methodologies and approaches to reconnecting our brothers and sisters to their heritage, but their identical desire to bring everybody back is rooted in the trait of chesed/ kindness. Each one of these rabbis made an enormous contribution, and in the Torah community, these three rabbis are all household names today. If these three rabbis made such an enormous impact armed with just a dream, imagine what each one of us can do if we only dreamt... and also... dared to make our dreams a reality.

It goes without saying that chesed begins at home. But let it flow forth from there. Let us take initiative. Invite people over for Shabbos, visit shut-ins, help suggest shidduchim for singles, offer to learn one-on-one with somebody who isn’t as exposed to Torah, and help somebody unemployed find a new job. These are just a few suggestions. In memory of these rabbis, and all of our brothers and sisters who have suffered so terribly in this drawn out exile, let us perform one extra act of kindness today. Let’s make that phone call or visit, and together we will bring the Messiah.

Every one of us can make a difference; let’s just seek out those opportunities.