The Importance of Kindness and Honesty

How does one become more honest? The answer is that one should practice acts of kindness (Chessed). In Tehillim 85:11 it states, “kindness and truth meet.” The Asher L’Shmuel in Shaar HaChessed (p. 168) writes that the simple explanation of this verse is that a direct repercussion of engaging in Chessed is the development of the quality of Emes.

It is also interesting to note that people perceive those that are kind to be honest and trustworthy. In a Gallup poll (Dec. 2, 2022), a sample of people were surveyed regarding how much they trusted others in various professions. Participants had a chance to cast their votes for people in 18 different professions.

The top three professions which participants perceived as the most honest and trustworthy and were most often characterized by participants as “highly trusted” or “very highly trusted” were nurses, doctors, and pharmacists – in that order. Please note that all of these professions have kindness as their focal point. (As an aside, the three professions that were least trusted were telemarketers, members of congress, and car salespeople.)