What is HESED?

(1) And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he fell down on his face to the earth; (2) and he said: ‘Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way.’ And they said: ‘Nay; but we will abide in the broad place all night.’ (3) And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. (4) But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. (5) And they called unto Lot, and said unto him: ‘Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.’ (6) And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him. (7) And he said: ‘I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly. (8) Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.’ (9) And they said: ‘Stand back.’ And they said: ‘This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs play the judge; now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.’ And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door. (10) But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and the door they shut. (11) And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great; so that they wearied themselves to find the door. (12) And the men said unto Lot: ‘Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city; bring them out of the place; (13) for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.’ (14) And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said: ‘Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy the city.’ But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that jested. (15) And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying: ‘Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here; lest thou be swept away in the iniquity of the city.’ (16) But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city. (17) And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said: ‘Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.’ (18) And Lot said unto them: ‘Oh, not so, my lord; (19) behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shown unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest the evil overtake me, and I die. (20) Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one; oh, let me escape thither—is it not a little one?—and my soul shall live.’ (21) And he said unto him: ‘See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. (22) Hasten thou, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.’—Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.—

(12) And he said: ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, send me, I pray Thee, good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. (13) Behold, I stand by the fountain of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. (14) So let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say: Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; let the same be she that Thou hast appointed for Thy servant, even for Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast shown kindness unto my master.’

(28) And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years. (29) And the time drew near that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him: ‘If now I have found favour in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. (30) But when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.’ And he said: ‘I will do as thou hast said.’ (31) And he said: ‘Swear unto me.’ And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed down upon the bed’s head.

(1) And God spoke all these words, saying: (2) I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; (6) and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

(17) And now, I pray Thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying: (18) The LORD is slow to anger, and plenteous in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation. (19) Pardon, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, and according as Thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.’

(4) O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, And as the dew that early passeth away. (5) Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And thy judgment goeth forth as the light. (6) For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.

just as its libation was done in sanctity, so too was its burning be done in sanctity. But what does [this midrash] mean? Ravina said: An analogy is made between two appearances of the word holy.” It is written here, ‘In the holy place your shall pour out a drink-offering of strong drink to the Lord’, and it is written elsewhere, “Then you shall burn the remainder with fire, it shall not be eaten, because it is holy” (Exodus 29:34). Whose view is followed in what we learned, The law of sacrilege applies to drink-offerings at the beginning, but after they have descended into the pits, the law of sacrilege does not apply to them.” Must we say that it is that of R. Elazar b. Zadok, for if it were that of the rabbis–the pits descended to the abyss? You may even say that it is that of the rabbis, [but it refers to] where it was collected. There are some who say: Shall we say that it is that of the Rabbis, and not that of R. Eleazar b. Zadok, for if it were that of R. Elazar b. Zadok, [the objection would arise:] Are they not still in their state of holiness?... You may even say that it is that of R. Elazar, for sacrilege cannot apply to anything whose commandment has already been fulfilled. Resh Lakish said: When they pour the wine-libation on the altar, they would stop up the pits, in order to fulfill what is said, “In holiness you shall pour out a drink-offering of strong drink to the Lord.” But how does this mean that? R. Papa answered, Shekhar—the language of drink, satiation and drunkenness. R. Papa said: Learn from that when a man is satiated with wine, it is due to his filling of his throat. Rava said: A young scholar who does not have much wine should swallow it in gulps. Rava used to gulp down the cup of blessing. Rava made the following exposition What is it that is written, “How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O prince’s daughter?” (Song of Songs 7:2): How beautiful are the steps of Israel when they go up [to Jerusalem] to celebrate a festival. “O prince’s daughter”: Daughter of our father Abraham, who is called prince, as it is said, “The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham” (Psalms 47:10). The God of Abraham! And not the God of Isaac and Jacob? But the meaning is, The God of Abraham who was the first of the converts. The School of R. Anan taught: It is written, “The roundings of your thighs” (Song of Songs 7:2). Why are the words of the Torah compared to the thigh? To teach you that just as the thigh is hidden, so should the words of the Torah be hidden. And this is what R. Elazar said: What is the implication of the text, “It has been told to you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8): ‘To do justly’ means [to act in accordance with] justice; ‘to love mercy’ refers to acts of loving kindness’, ‘and to walk humbly with your God’ refers to attending to funerals and providing a bride with a dowry for her wedding. Now can we not make an a fortiori deduction: If in matters which are normally performed publicly the Torah says ‘to walk humbly’, how much more so in matters that are normally done privately? R. Elazar stated: Greater is he who performs charity than [he who offers] all the sacrifices, for it is said, “To do charity and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3). R. Elazar further stated: Acts of loving kindness (gemilut hasadim) are greater than charity (tzedakah), for it is said, “Sow to yourselves according to your charity (tzedakah), but reap according to your hesed” (Hosea 10: 12); when one sows, it is doubtful whether he will eat [the harvest] or not, but when one reaps, he will certainly eat. R. Elazar further stated: The reward of charity depends entirely upon the extent of the kindness in it, for it is said, “Sow to yourselves according to charity, but reap according to the kindness.” Our rabbis taught: In three respects gemilut hasadim is superior to charity: charity can be done only with one’s money, but gemilut hasadim can be done with one’s person and one’s money. Charity can be given only to the poor, but gemilut hasadim both to the rich and the poor. Charity can be given to the living only, gemilut hasadim can be done both to the living and to the dead. R. Elazar further stated: He who performs acts of charity and justice is regarded as though he had filled all the world with kindness, for it is said, “He who loves charity and justice, he has filled the earth with the loving kindness of God” (Psalms 33:5). But lest you say that whoever wishes to do good succeeds without difficulty, Scripture says, “How precious is Your loving kindness, O God” (Psalms 36:8). One might say that this applies also one who fears God, Scripture says, “But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting time to everlasting time on those that fear Him” (Psalms 103:17). R. Hama b. Papa stated: Any man who is endowed with grace is known to be a God-fearing man, for it is said, ‘But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting time to everlasting time to them that fear Him.” R. Elazar further stated: What is it that is written, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the Torah of loving kindness is on her tongue?” (Proverbs 31:26): Is there then a Torah of loving kindness and a Torah which is not of loving kindness? Rather Torah [which is studied] for its own sake is a ‘Torah of loving kindness’, whereas Torah [which is studied] for an ulterior motive is a Torah which is not of loving kindness. There are those who say, Torah [which is studied] in order to teach it is a ‘Torah of loving kindness’, but Torah [which is] not [studied] in order to teach it is a Torah which is not of loving kindness. As it was performed on weekdays, so was it was performed on Shabbat, [save that on the eve of Shabbat he would fill a non-sanctified golden barrel from the Shiloah, and place it in the chamber.] But why [bring the water in a non-sanctified vessel]? Let him bring it in a sanctified one? Zeiri said: [The author of our Mishnah] is of the opinion that no fixed amount has been prescribed for the water [of libation] and that the ministering vessels sanctify their contents even if there was no intention