The story has been told of a restaurant employee in New York City who began distributing leftover food from the restaurant to a group of homeless people who frequented the streets nearby. Although most of the people were grateful for his kindness, one homeless woman refused to touch any of the food he offered. After several days, his curiosity overcame him, and he asked her why she would not accept his gifts.
“I would rather starve to death than accept food from a Jew!” she replied.
Surprised, the man exclaimed, “But I’m not Jewish! Why would you think I am?”
“Only Jews are capable of this type of generosity,” she insisted.
When the man shared this story with his mother, he was shocked by her reply. “You’re not going to believe this, but the truth is that you are Jewish,” she admitted. “Your father is a non-Jew, but I am a Jew, and that makes you a Jew as well.”
This incredible revelation eventually led the man to Eretz Yisrael and a life of full Jewish observance.
The homeless woman’s perception in this story highlights the very goal that we must all strive to attain. As Jews, we must be not just gomlei chasadim, but practitioners of chessed on such a level that the rest of the world will see it as unmistakably Jewish.
Reproduced from A Life Worth Living by Rabbi Shraga Freedman with permission of the copyright holders, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, Ltd.
