Lazybones!
Based on Ahavas Chesed vol. 2 chapter 11
Another reason one might refrain from acts of chesed is that he’s simply too lazy to do so. He just can’t be bothered to go to the effort of lending someone money and then having to collect it. (If this is the case with lending money, imagine how resistant such a person would be to performing an act of chesed that requires some real effort!) This, actually, is the reason people refrain from so many mitzvos – they just can’t be bothered. Therefore, they push things off. Shlomo HaMelech compares this attitude to those who let their fields and vineyards get overgrown with weeds and thorns (Mishlei 24:30-31).
The gemara in Brachos (32b) teaches that four things require that we fortify ourselves: Torah, maasim tovim (good deeds), tefillah (prayer) and derech eretz (in this context referring to one’s occupation). We see that we must constantly strengthen ourselves in the performance of maasim tovim. If a person allows himself to weaken in this regard, the gemara (ibid. 63a) says he won’t have strength to stand in his time of trouble (meaning when facing Divine justice). Regarding this, the verse in Mishlei (24:10) says, “if you’re weak in (someone else’s) time of trouble, your strength will weaken (in your own).”
A person must be as zealous in his mitzvah performance as he is in his business dealings. A shop owner isn’t too lazy to brave the elements and to wait on his customers one after another. He devotes the necessary time to each of them even though each individual transaction doesn’t amount to much because, cumulatively, they are his livelihood. If we’re that diligent with transactions that sustain our temporary lives, how much more we should enthusiastically pursue those transactions (mitzvos) that ensure our eternal lives!
Now, let’s say that a person extends a loan and the borrower fails to pay him back, causing the lender to have to remind him several times. We shouldn’t let such things weaken us when it comes to performing acts of chesed. Consider the storekeeper again: do you think he’d get discouraged in his business just because he has to collect a few debts? Businesses extend credit and sometimes they take a loss – that’s just the price of doing business! The shopkeeper still profits in the big picture. The same is true when it comes to chesed.
If anything, it’s more true when it comes to chesed! This is because, despite his efforts, the shopkeeper can only collect what he was owed. When it comes to mitzvos, the more effort we invest, the greater our rewards will be, as we see from Avos 5:23: “According to the effort is the reward.”
One might think that if a loan isn’t repaid, the lender should simply forget it and cut his losses. The Chofetz Chaim informs us that this line of reasoning is mistaken. It’s actually better to insist that the loan be repaid. In this way, the lender will have the means to extend further loans with that money!
This is just one of the myriad ways that laziness can impede our mitzvah observance; it would be impossible to address each possibility individually. But whatever the individual circumstances, one can always return to the analogy of a shopkeeper. If we wouldn’t let comparable circumstances deter us from earning our temporal livelihoods, we certainly shouldn’t let them discourage us from pursuing our eternal livelihoods!
Get handy, colorful chesed "cheat sheets" in A Universe of Chesed!