The Chinuch (mitzvah 479) writes, "Now, my son, don't think tzedakah is only to give to the poor, people who don't have bread or clothing. The Torah wants us to be kind and help people in any way we can. Whoever helps his friend with money, or in any other way, such as with kind words, it is considered tzedakah, and his reward is great."
The Chinuch reveals a wonderful chidush: Tzedakah isn't just with money, and it isn't only for the poor. You can give tzedakah by sharing kind words, compliments, good counsel, and even a smile can be counted as tzedakah. Tzedakah means to help your fellow man in any way you can.
A hint to this lesson is that the pasuk that discusses tzedakah states הדבר, which can be translated as דיבור, speech. It states (15:10) נתון ...לו תתן, "You shall surely give him [tzedakah]...הזה הדבר בגלל כי for because of your דיבור, kind words, מעשיך בכל אלקיך 'ה יברכך ידיך משלח ובכל, Hashem your G-d will bless you in all your work and all your endeavors."
The brachos that come from giving tzedakah aren't only when we give money. It is also when we share kind, helpful, friendly words with our fellow man. Many people lack it, and to give it to them is like giving them tzedakah.
Shulchan Aruch (Yorah Deiah 253:4) says that when a wealthy man is traveling and doesn’t have money, he has the halachah of a poor person and may receive support from the tzedakah. So, we see that it is possible for a wealthy person to be considered poor when he needs something and doesn't have a way to attain it. We can bring this further to other needs, such as a kind word. If someone wealthy lacks it, and we give it to him, it is a form of tzedakah.
The Shevet Mussar says he once spoke to a broken-hearted person for a long time to give him hope and chizuk. A few days later, the man told him that if it weren't for that conversation, he would have committed suicide. The conversation saved him. Therefore, the Shevet Mussar encourages everyone to be generous with their words and give chizuk to broken-hearted people. He calls it "tzedakah that doesn't cost money."
Reb Gad'l Eisner said, "I studied in depth the sugyah of 'man,' and I discovered that one kind word can turn a person around. Everything can be fixed."
Helping People Feel Wanted
A kind of tzedakah and chesed that we can do with words is to help people feel wanted and needed. There are many lonely people, and with some kind words, we can help them so much.
The Kuntress HaSefeikos writes that if a person would go up to heaven, he wouldn’t enjoy it until he comes down and tells his friends and family about what he saw there because that is what man is all about. Therefore, one of the favors, tzedakah, and chesed that we can do for people is to hear them out and to listen to them when they want to tell us about their experiences. They might be lonely, with no one to speak to, which hurts them immensely. When we listen to them, it is a great chesed.
As we know, it is very painful when people speak lashon hara about you. No one wants to be the discussion of town. But there is something even more painful than that. And that is when no one speaks to or about you, and you feel ignored and alone. This is a very painful experience. Many people prefer to be talked about, even negatively, rather than be ignored as if they don't exist.
Chazal say כמת חשוב מצורע, a metzora is considered dead. This is because the metzora is banished from the camp and dwells alone. (Vayikra 13:46) מושבו למחנו מחוץ ישב בדד, "He shall dwell isolated. His dwelling shall be outside the camp." He lives alone, distant from people, and that loneliness is very painful. There are many lonely people, and with a smile and a kind word, you can make their day and much more than that!
Befriending the Stranger
In Parashas Eikev it (10:19) states, ואהבתם הגר את, which discusses the mitzvah to love geirim, converts. The Chinuch (431) innovates that this mitzvah also means to help and befriend anyone who feels like a stranger, such as someone in a new neighborhood. He writes, "We can derive from this precious mitzvah to have compassion on a person in a city that isn't his homeland, whose family doesn't live there. The Torah hints at the reason for this command because it states כי מצרים בארץ הייתם גרים. The Torah reminds us that we have once experienced the great distress of being alone, among strangers, in a foreign land. When we remember how we felt, we will also have compassion on this person."
Giving Honor
Another kind of chesed we can give people is honor. This is something that many people seek, desire, and lack.
It states that we should give the poor (15:8) לו יחסר אשר מחסרו די, "sufficient for his needs, which he is lacking." Rashi explains that the words לו יחסר אשר, "which he is lacking," indicate that we have to restore the poor person to his previous prestige, honor, and pleasure that he was accustomed to when he was financially better off. Rashi explains that if in the past he would ride on a horse and have a slave run in front of him, we must provide him with these things. We aren't obligated to make him wealthy, but we are obligated to restore him to his previous lifestyle."
The Gemara (Kesubos 67:) teaches, "People say about Hillel HaZaken that he gave a poor man a horse to ride on and a slave to run before him [because this poor man was accustomed to this lifestyle when he had money]. Once, Hillel couldn't find a slave to run before the poor man, so Hillel himself ran before him for three mil."
Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz wonders if the great scholar, Hillel HaZaken, would run before this poor man. He concludes that it must be that it was a matter of pikuach nefesh. For a person to lack a level of honor and prestige that he was once accustomed to is like murder, and therefore Hillel HaZaken understood that he couldn't neglect this poor man's needs.
One day, Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz zt'l greeted a sanitation worker throwing garbage into the truck. The man was flattered that the rav acknowledged him, and he said, "I should really be the one riding on the truck and not the person who picks up the garbage bags. But, by nature, I don't pursue honor, and since it was important for my partner to take the more respected job, I let him take it."
Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz said that from this conversation, he understood the foolishness of those who pursue honor. So, if kavod is so foolish, why did Hashem create this nature in people? Reb Chaim Shmuelevitz explains that we should know how important it is to people, so we grant them honor.
The Shevet Mussar (431) tells a story of a rasha who committed aveiros his entire life. When he was old and almost a gosses (on the verge of dying), the family said, "Why didn't you eat anything today?" He replied, "If you give me a cooked egg, I will eat it." Before he ate the egg, a poor person came to the door, asking for food. The ill man told his family, "Give the egg to him." This was the first time (and only time) in his life that he gave tzedakah. Three days later, he died, and he came to his son in a dream and said, "My dear son, accustom yourself to give tzedakah, and you will merit Olam Haba. I gave tzedakah once in my lifetime, and the mitzvah tipped the scales in my favor, and I merited Olam Haba."
The Shevet Mussar explains how giving tzedakah once tipped the scale to merit, although this man had sinned for so many years. The Shevet Mussar explains that the poor man who came to his door was on the verge of dying, and if it weren't for the egg he gave him, the poor man would have died from hunger. This means that all the mitzvos this person will do in his lifetime and all the lives of his children and future descendants who will be born are all to his credit. This is why this deed was so significant; with it, he merited Olam HaBa.
For our discussion, let us be aware that the same can occur when you say a kind word or smile at someone. You don't know what you are accomplishing. Perhaps your smile or encouraging words saved someone's shalom bayis. Perhaps you saved someone's spirituality. All the good deeds that will come from your good deeds will be attributed to your merits.
