Acts of kindness- an expression of love of Hashem
וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל משֶׁה קַח לְךָ אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר רוּחַ בּוֹ וְסָמַכְתָּ אֶת יָדְךָ עָלָיו: (כז, יח)
Hashem said to Moshe, “Take to yourself Yehoshua bin Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lean your hand upon him.” (27:18)
Rashi explains: Take to yourself – Take him with words. “You are fortunate for you are privileged to lead the children of the Omnipresent.”
When Moshe wanted to arouse a desire in Yehoshua to lead the people of Israel, he said to him, “Fortunate are you who have merited this!” And why? Because these are the children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu!
To what may this be compared? To one who greatly loves his friend and longs to express to him the depth of his love. If he does good directly to his friend, that alone will not be sufficient to express the depth of his love. Only when he does good also to his friend’s children will he fully express that love, for it is as if he is saying, “I have loved you so much that I have become close even to your children, and I desire to do good to them as well.”
So Moshe said to Yehoshua: Surely you have merited deep love for your Creator, and surely you greatly yearn to express before Him the depth of your love for Him. And how can you do that? If through commandments between man and Hashem—it is true that this brings satisfaction to HaKadosh Baruch Hu—but it is not sufficient to express the full depth of your love for your Creator. Only through doing good to His children and tending to their spiritual and physical needs can you express the depth of your love for your Creator. For by doing so, it is as if you are saying to Him: “I have loved You so much that I have become close even to Your children, and I am ready to give my soul to do good for them.”
So did HaKadosh Baruch Hu instruct Moshe to say to Yehoshua, knowing that this was Yehoshua’s deepest desire—to express before Him the depth of his love for his Creator. For HaKadosh Baruch Hu knew that because of Yehoshua’s immense love for Him, he would rejoice to take upon himself the burden of leadership, even though it involved a nation that is troublesome and stubborn.
And in this matter there is also a teaching for all generations. For behold, every individual, if he contemplates, will see that HaKadosh Baruch Hu does good with him every day and every hour with every form of goodness—even though He is not obligated to do so. And even one who is surrounded by various concealments—if he believes that “everything HaKadosh Baruch hu does is for good,” then he believes that even this is part of Hashem’s desire to do good with him. And from that feeling, that HaKadosh Baruch hu does good with him all the time, he will surely be awakened with immense feelings of love toward HaKadosh Baruch Hu and will surely be stirred with a desire to express at least the depth of his gratitude. And how can he do that? Only by engaging in gemilus chasadim—acts of kindness—and by doing good with the children of HaKadosh Baruch Hu! For through this he becomes as one who says to Hashem: “I have loved You so much that I have become close even to Your children, and I desire to do good with them from the great love I have for You.”
So too did one of the righteous men of the previous generation say: The greatness of the righteous is measured by the degree of Ahavas Yisrael—love of fellow Jews—that they possess. And the greatness of every Jew is measured by the degree of love he has for his fellow, by how much he is willing to exert himself for his friend. For the love a person has for others expresses the depth of his love for his Creator, and the depth of his love for his Creator stems from his closeness to the Creator Baruch Hu and from contemplating His many kindnesses toward him.
Indeed, when one helps and assists his fellow, it brings great pleasure Above. As Maran the Chafetz Chaim wrote in his sefer Zechor L’Miriam (chapter 11): “It is brought in the Midrash of our Chazal that HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to Israel: ‘My beloved children, am I lacking anything that I need to ask of you? What do I ask of you but that you should love one another, and honor one another, and have awe for one another, and that there should be no transgression or theft or anything disgraceful among you.’ Therefore it says: ‘He has told you, O man, what is good, and what Hashem seeks from you—only to do justice and to love kindness...’”
He goes on to explain the matter with a parable: There was a man who was very wealthy, and he had several sons—all of them great and clever merchants who knew how to succeed in wealth and trade. And each brother was filled with jealousy toward the other, and each one wanted to surpass his brother. A wise man said to them: “Why do you toil so much? There is no end to your labor—this one envies that one, and that one envies the other—who knows what will come of this in the end? It would be better for you to love one another and to be truly like one person who loves all his limbs and has no jealousy or hatred between them. Then you will all be beloved to your father, just as if he had a single child born to him in his old age. And naturally, all of his wealth will be solely for you, and that wealth will suffice for your children and grandchildren to the end of all generations.”
So it is in our matter: HaKadosh Baruch Hu is our Father, to whom belong greatness, might, beauty, etc., for everything in the heavens and the earth is His. Therefore, if the people of Israel would truly love one another properly, then automatically blessing and abundance would be increased for each individual, and the hand of Hashem would not be short to save, chas v’shalom. And it makes no difference to HaKadosh Baruch Hu whether there are ten thousand or many tens of thousands on Earth—He provides sustenance and nourishment to all, sufficiently according to their needs.
And he adds further: One who behaves in a manner opposite to all this—who overpowers his fellow and does not treat his fellow with respect, and in all matters behaves in opposition to him—his punishment is very great. We find this with the students of Rebbe Akiva: Even though they were great in Torah, because they did not treat one another with respect, the honor of Heaven was desecrated, and the attribute of judgment struck them, and they all died in a plague between Pesach and Shavuos. For this, all of Israel mourns each year during the days of the Sefirah. From all this we see clearly: When does creation find favor in the eyes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? When the people of Israel are united together and there is no jealousy, hatred, or competition among them, and each one thinks about the benefit and well-being of his fellow. Then HaKadosh Baruch Hu rejoices in His creation. And regarding this it is said: “Hashem will rejoice in His works.”
So concludes select passages from his pleasant words.
These matters are especially necessary for us to know in these days—the days of Bein HaMetzarim—The Three Weeks, during which we must increase love and friendship toward our fellow. For in these days we must rectify the things that brought about the destruction of our Beis HaMikdash, and one of them was baseless hatred, Rachmana litzlan. Therefore, beyond the effort we must make to abandon hatred and competition, it is fitting that we also increase our love toward others, so that this may serve as a rectification for the days in which hatred persisted among us. And in this merit, we shall be worthy to witness the consolation of Zion and Yerushalayim, speedily in our days, Amein.
