Personal Involvement
The Baal Shem Tov said: The way to recognize lessons in avoda from life occurrences is to say a kapitel Tehillim with a fiery heart, personally putting in effort to do kindness for a Yid, and having ahavas Yisroel with mesiras nefesh. These are the keys that open the locks to the chambers of mercy, health, yeshuah and parnassa.
(סה"ש קיץ ת"ש ע' 73)
One Yom Kippur, in middle of chazaras hashatz of Shacharis, the Alter Rebbe motioned to the chazzan to quicken his pace. After he finished, the Alter Rebbe removed his tallis, left the shul and headed towards the home of an ailing woman who had just given birth. Entering the house, the Alter Rebbe took some twigs, lit a fire and cooked kasha for her.
The Rebbe points out that although the Alter Rebbe could have sent others to help the woman, he chose to do it himself. In addition, he put aside his lofty davening on Yom Kippur to care for the needs of another Yid.
(רשימת היומן ע' שסא, תו"מ תשד"מ ח"ב ע' 627)
The Frierdiker Rebbe once described what had taken place while he was traveling with his father, the Rebbe Rashab: "One day, after lunchtime, my father was reclining on the couch and appeared to be in another world. He was not asleep but was leaning on his side and had an unusual expression in his eyes. This continued for many hours, until he suddenly awoke and asked me, “What day is it? What parsha is it today?” and I answered.
"The following morning, my father said that he needed to take care of a few errands, so I stayed behind in the hotel. A short while later, a package of women's clothing was delivered to our hotel room, and throughout the rest of the day, many more packages were dropped off. In the evening, my father returned and said that we were to pack up and leave for Pressburg.
"Upon our arrival there, we began walking down the street and met a bochur on the way, whom my father asked for directions to a specific hotel. The bochur directed us and told us that the hotel owner had just passed away (at the exact time when my father was reclining on the couch) and his family was now sitting shiva. We then walked to a nearby Yeshiva and went into the beis medrash, where my father began a learned discussion in learning with some of the bachurim, including the bochur we had met in the street. There was one student with whom my father spoke at length, and later praised him highly.
"We then went to the hotel and my father spoke to the widow and her daughters. He encouraged her to marry off her daughters. The woman began to sob, saying that she could not afford clothing for a chasuna and didn’t know of any appropriate matches for her orphaned girls. My father comforted her and proposed shidduchim for them. For the oldest daughter, my father suggested the bachur with whom he had spoken to at length at the Yeshiva, and for the second daughter, he suggested the bachur that we had met in the street. In the end, the shidduchim were successful and my father provided the clothing for both of the chasunos."
(סה"ש תרפ"ד ע' 62)
No Exceptions!
The mother of the chossid Reb Refael Nachman Kahn related: "Once the Rebbe Rashab and the Frierdiker Rebbe stayed near Liozna, in the town where I lived. One day I headed toward the shochet, holding a chicken in one hand and my young son in the other. At that time, I was also expecting a child. Sitting on the porch of his home, the Frierdiker Rebbe saw me struggling, and motioned to me to stop, and though he did not know me, he offered to shecht the chicken himself, sparing me from the walk to the shochet."
(שמועות וסיפורים ח"א ע' 193)
One day, while walking along Eastern Parkway toward 770, an elderly man carrying two heavy suitcases approached the Rebbe and said, “Can you please help me with one of my suitcases?” The Rebbe gladly took the suitcase, and they continued walking together. Hearing the man sigh heavily, the Rebbe asked the man what was wrong, and the man responded, “This suitcase is also too heavy for me.” Immediately, the Rebbe took the second suitcase as well.
A passing chossid who witnessed the scene approached the elderly man and whispered to him that the person carrying his suitcases was none other than the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The man was shocked; he stopped in his tracks and cried, “Gevald! What have I done?!” and began apologizing profusely to the Rebbe. The Rebbe responded, “What's with the mitzva of helping another? Was that mitzva only given to others and not to me?!”
(ראש בני ישראל ע' 142)
On another occasion, a worker in 770 was carrying a ladder, when he suddenly felt it become lighter. Turning around, he saw the Rebbe holding the other end. He asked the Rebbe to let go of it, but the Rebbe replied, "Does [here the Rebbe said his own name] not have to fulfill the mitzva of helping another?!"
(בית חיינו ע' 229)
As a young married man, Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev lived in his father-in-law's house. His in-laws, who were wealthy, often hosted many guests, and Reb Levi Yitzchok would personally see to the needs of the visitors, preparing bundles of straw for the bedding and arranging the bed and linen. Seeing this, his father-in-law asked him why he troubled himself when goyim could be hired to do such menial work.
"Tell me," said Reb Levi Yitzchok, "is it right to give a goy the privilege of doing the mitzva, and on top of that to pay him for it?"
(סיפו"ח זוין תורה ע' 66)
Consider
Is personally doing the kindness an advantage for the provider or for the receiver?
