Chesed
We discussed above that the primary message of the Torah is emunah. Another key message in the Torah is chesed.
The Gemara (Sotah 14.) states, "The Torah begins with gemilus chasadim and ends with gemilus chasadim. It begins with (Bereishis 3:21) ויעש ה' אלקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבשם, 'Hashem...made for Adam and his wife shirts of skin and He dressed them,' and the Torah concludes with (Devarim 34:6) ויקבר אותו, '[Hashem] buried [Moshe]...'" The Vilna Gaon zt'l writes that this teaches us that the focal point of the Torah is gemilus chasadim.
36. Chazal (Shabbos 31.) call Seder Zeraim (the tractate of Mishnayos that deals with the laws of agriculture) emunah. What is the connection between emunah and Seder Zeraim?
We can explain it this way: Agriculture reminds us that even when everything seems lost, something good will sprout from it. When a seed is planted in the earth, it rots, and it seems nothing will come from it. But these rotted seeds will eventually sprout, and the field will soon be covered with produce. Similarly, we must believe that even when we go through hard times, something very special will sprout from it. It looks like a problem, but something very good will come from it.
37. When one picks up a new book and wants to know what it is about, he reads the first and last pages, and he gets the gist of the book. L'havdil, the Torah begins and ends with gemilus chasadim, which indicates that chesed is the primary message of the Torah.
38. Chazal teach us ליכא שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא, that we don't receive reward for mitzvos in this world. Chesed is an exception. We receive reward in this world, as it states in the Mishnah we say each morning, אלו דברים שאדם אוכל פירותיהן בעולם הזה והקרן קיימת לו לעולם הבא, and the Mishnah lists several examples of chesed. The Rosh (Peiah 1:1) explains this because "Hakadosh Baruch Hu desires more the mitzvos of helping your fellow man than the mitzvos that are solely for Hashem."
