Gemilut Chassadim: How We Give Back

Our last pieces studied the world’s first two pillars: Torah and avodah. This week, we study the third—gemilut chassadim.

One might have thought that personal development and commitment to Hashem would be enough to sustain the world. Our Mishnah teaches that this is incorrect. In fact, the Navi Michah (6:8) presents care for others, in contrast to korbanot, as central to what Hashem wants from us in this world. Korbanot and avodatHashem are, of course, important, but Hashem also wants us to serve Him by caring for and about His creations—particularly those He created in His image, and especially our fellow Jews (Ram. Avel 14:1–2). The ideal Jew, a true chassid, cares not only for Hashem, but also for His creations and His children (M”Y 19). 

This is why the first Jew, Avraham Avinu, prioritized chesed over meeting with Hashem. Parashat Vayerabegins by describing how, even while meeting with Hashem Himself and even on an extremely hot day, Avraham was on the lookout for potential guests. And when he finally spotted three wayfarers, he abandoned his audience with Hashem to run to invite them into his home.

Chazal (Shab. 127a) explain that though “receiving Hashem’s Presence” is a holy endeavor, welcoming guests is of greater significance. Indeed, chesed was of supreme importance to Avraham. That is why his servant, Eliezer, when looking for a daughter-in-law for Avraham, sought a woman who performed chesed. Rivkah proved her chesed credentials at the well and, together with Yitzchak, continued Avraham’s legacy. Understandably, chesed has become one of the identifying traits of the Jewish people (Yev. 79a).

Chesed is both a way of showing our love for Hashem’s creations and also emulating His creation of the world as an act of chesed. Hashem, of course, does not need the world; He created it for us. Hashem’s continued sustenance of the world also reflects His chesed. He emphasized this by beginning and concluding the Torah with His acts of chesed: creating clothing for Adam and Chavah and burying Moshe Rabbeinu.

Our acts of chesed are also our way of giving back to Hashem. Rav Avraham Chaim Feuer explains that this is why the Mishnah uses the term gemilut (literally translated as “repaying”) chassadim: Our chesed is how we “pay Hashem back” for His chesed. By assisting others He created in His image, we show our appreciation of the fact that He made us this way as well.

Because chesed is rooted in our love for others and the goal to emulate Hashem’s care for humanity, it extends beyond the parameters of tzedakah and of other mitzvot.

Though the category of chesed includes money we give to the poor as tzedakah, it also covers other forms of assistance offered to all kinds of people, including physical acts of assistance to even the wealthy or deceased.

These acts include mitzvot specified by the Torah, such as tzedakah and other gifts to the poor, other forms of economic support (such as interest-free loans), assistance with loading and unloading, teaching Torah (Suk. 49b), saving lives, and returning lost objects. Gemilut chassadim is a general and comprehensive concept encompassing the entire realm of Divine directives regarding humanity. All the mitzvot that concern human relationships are implied by the idea of gemilut chassadim.

Gemilut chassadim also mandates additional deeds not specified by the Torah. These include welcoming and accompanying guests, giving good advice (Sha’arei Teshuvah 3:55), helping people marry and celebrating with them, clothing those who need, visiting the sick, eulogizing and burying the deceased, comforting mourners, and assisting and supporting all those in need of help or even emotional encouragement. We know that Hashem shows His care in these ways, and we should as well.

Gemilut chassadim is indeed one of the world’s pillars, not only because society cannot function without people caring for one another, but also because Hashem is unwilling to sustain a world that does not reflect His core value of chesed. He showed chesed and continues to show chesed by creating and maintaining the world, expecting us to do the same.

Chesed is an essential complement to talmud Torah. The Gemara (A”Z 17b) compares one involved in only Torah learning but not chesed to one who has no G-d. One who focuses only on himself lacks a meaningful relationship with Hashem. As we saw in earlier pieces, Torah learning can be “gadlut”—greater than other mitzvot—but, if taken to a self-centered extreme, it can also be godless. Torah learning is only gadlut when it inspires us to care for Hashem’s other creations.

This is why we celebrate Torah together with ma’asim tovim (good deeds) as the goals and epitome of life. They are the goals the community wishes for a newborn baby and mothers daven for each week when they light candles. The two together are how we serve Hashem in the fullest sense of the word.

Put together, these three foci—Torah, avodah, and gemilut chassadim—are not just pillars of our faith, but also the very essence of why the world exists, and what we, therefore, should be focused upon.

May appreciating this help us maximize our lives and our contribution to sustaining the world. n

Rav Reuven Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel and the Educational Director of World Mizrachi and the RZA.

His new book, Essentials of Judaism, is available at rabbireuventaragin.com.