The Saving Power of Chesed
Based on Ahavas Chesed vol. 2 chapter 5
A person must zealously connect to the trait of chesed, as this has the potential to save the Jewish people even when the merit of our forebears has been exhausted. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 10:1) derives this from Isaiah 54:10: “Even if the mountains (representing the Avos) are moved and the hills (representing the Imahos) are shaken, My chesed will not be removed from you.”
Our forefather Avraham excelled in matters of chesed, and the other Avos followed his example. Regarding this, Genesis 18:19 teaches, “I have desired him because he will instruct his sons and their families after them, and they will keep Hashem’s way, performing acts of righteousness and justice.” Avraham took God’s Presence, which had previously resided exclusively in Heaven, and started the process of disseminating it all around the world. (The Chofetz Chaim cites a Midrash from Bereishis Rabbah to support this assertion.) But there’s a limit to how far a human’s merit will extend, no matter how great he is. Therefore, it behooves us to arouse Hashem’s traits of goodness and kindness by aligning our actions to the trait of chesed. If we do so, His trait of chesed will never leave us.
Chesed also helps to redeem the Jewish people from exile, as per the gemara in Brachos (8a). In fact, chesed is even more valuable than the korbanos. Hoshea 6:6 tells us that “I (God) desired kindness rather than sacrifices. The midrash on this verse explains that the acts of chesed that we perform for one another mean more to Hashem than the thousand sacrifices offered by Shlomo (in I Kings 3:4). The Yerushalmi (Peah 1:1) teaches that tzedakah and chesed are equal to all the other mitzvos combined.
The Midrash (Rus Rabbah 2:14) asks a question: The Book of Ruth has no halachos in it. It teaches us nothing about kashrus or ritual impurity. So why include such a thing in the Bible canon? The answer is, because it teaches us the merit earned by those who perform acts of chesed. Because of the kindness that Boaz extended to Ruth, he merited having King David as a descendant, along with the permanent Davidic dynasty.
Chesed brings the rain (Yerushalmi Taanis 3:3), it saves a person from a divine decree of death (Tanchuma, Kedoshim) and it helps a person to defeat his yetzer hara. The gemara in Avodah Zara (5b) teaches that so long as we’re engaged in Torah and chesed, the yetzer hara is subservient to us and not the other way around. This is because the yetzer hara can take control of us in two ways – through our minds and through our bodies. When we study Torah, we elevate our minds. When we perform acts of chesed, we give our bodies “muscle memory” in performing Hashem’s will. Through the combination of Torah and chesed, we effectively cut off every route available to the yetzer hara.
If a person trains himself to regularly perform acts of kindness, his children will be prosperous and wise (Baba Basra 9b). This is derived from Proverbs 21:21, “One who pursues charity and kindness will find life, prosperity and honor.”
Finally, all the blessings enumerated in the Torah only come upon a person in the merit of chesed. Deuteronomy 28:2 says, “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you listen to the voice of Hashem your God.” In other words, one merits these blessings for following the divine path. This means emulating God’s ways, i.e., just as He is merciful and compassionate by feeding the world, so should we be merciful and compassionate by helping others to earn a living. Just as God gives freely even to those who don’t know Him, so should we give freely to others. Just as He loves chesed and looks for ways to be merciful rather than strict, so should we look for ways to benefit one another.
We see from all this how absolutely enormous chesed is. Even one’s descendants benefit from the chesed one has performed, so it’s an excellent trait for everyone to cultivate.
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