Why Do Chesed?

(1) All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (2) If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams—and he give thee a sign or a wonder, (3) and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke unto thee—saying: ‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them’; (4) thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (5) After the LORD your God shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave.

R. Hama son of R. Hanina further said: What means the text: Ye shall walk after the Lord your God? Is it, then, possible for a human being to walk after the Shechinah; for has it not been said: For the Lord thy God is a devouring fire? But [the meaning is] to walk after the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He. As He clothes the naked, for it is written: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them, so do thou also clothe the naked. The Holy One, blessed be He, visited the sick, for it is written: And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, so do thou also visit the sick. The Holy One, blessed be He, comforted mourners, for it is written: And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son, so do thou also comfort mourners. The Holy one, blessed be He, buried the dead, for it is written: And He buried him in the valley, so do thou also bury the dead.

For it was taught: This is my God, and I will adorn him: [i.e.,] adorn thyself before Him in [the fulfillment of] precepts. [Thus:] make a beautiful sukkah in His honour, a beautiful lulab, a beautiful shofar, beautiful fringes, and a beautiful Scroll of the Law, and write it with fine ink, a fine reed [-pen], and a skilled penman, and wrap it about with beautiful silks. Abba Saul interpreted, and I will be like him: be thou like Him: just as He is gracious and compassionate, so be thou gracious and compassionate.

(18) Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

It is a positive commandment of Rabbinic origin to visit the sick, comfort mourners, to prepare for a funeral, prepare a bride, accompany guests, attend to all the needs of a burial, carry a corpse on one shoulders, walk before the bier, mourn, dig a grave, and bury the dead, and also to bring joy to a bride and groom and help them in all their needs. These are deeds of kindness that one carries out with his person that have no limit.

Although all these mitzvot are of Rabbinic origin, they are included in the Scriptural commandment Leviticus 19:18: "Love your neighbor as yourself." That charge implies that whatever you would like other people to do for you, you should do for your comrade in the Torah and mitzvot.

An exaggeration, as it is impossible for one to truly love one's fellow as much as oneself. Further, Rabbi Akiva has taught that one's own life takes priority over one's fellow's (Bava Metzia 62a). Rather, the Torah commands that one should love one's fellow to the extent that one wishes every good thing for him [one wishes that he flourish in every way?]. And perhaps this is why the verse says "And your love for your fellow shall be as for yourself", and not "And your love of your fellow shall be as of yourself", and likewise "And your love for him shall be as for yourself" with respect to a convert. That is, the two loves should be equal in one's mind. For often one will wish the best for one's fellow in some ways but not others; for example, that he have wealth but not wisdom. And even if one's love for one's fellow is great, one will wish that he have wealth and honor and wisdom, but just not quite as much as one wishes for oneself. Therefore the verse commands to remove all traces of jealousy from one's heart, and wish every good thing for his fellow as one would wish for oneself, and not be stingy with one's love. And therefore the verse says of Jonathan, that he "loved [David] as himself", because he removed the attribute of jealousy from his heart and said "And you [David] shall reign over Israel."

How can one train himself to follow these temperaments to the extent that they become a permanent fixture of his [personality]? He should perform - repeat - and perform a third time - the acts which conform to the standards of the middle road temperaments. He should do this constantly, until these acts are easy for him and do not present any difficulty. Then, these temperaments will become a fixed part of his personality. Since the Creator is called by these terms and they make up the middle path which we are obligated to follow, this path is called "the path of God." This is [the heritage] which our Patriarch Abraham taught his descendants, as [Genesis 18:19] states: "for I have known Him so that he will command his descendants...to keep the path of God." One who follows this path brings benefit and blessing to himself, as [the above verse continues]: "so that God will bring about for Abraham all that He promised."

Raba gave the following exposition: What is the meaning of the concluding verse: But let
them be overthrown before Thee; deal thus with them in the time of Thine anger? Jeremiah thus addressed the Holy One, blessed be He: Lord of the Universe, even when they are prepared to do charity, cause them to be frustrated by people unworthy of any consideration so that no reward be forthcoming to them for that charity.

Good intention is combined with deed, for it is said: Then they that feared the Lord spoke one with another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. Now, what is the meaning of ‘that thought upon his name’? — Said R. Assi: Even if one [merely] thinks of performing a precept but is foicibly prevented the Writ ascribes it to him as though he has performed it.

(18) Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. (19) Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God be with thee: be thou for the people before God, and bring thou the causes unto God. (20) And thou shalt teach them the statutes and the laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. (21) Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

R. Yosef taught [expounding Ex. 18:20], “You shall make known to them” - this refers to their livelihood; “The path” - this refers to acts of loving-kindness; “They are to walk” - this refers to visiting the sick; “Upon” - this refers to burial; “The deeds” - this refers to the law; “They are to perform” - this refers to [actions] within the line of the law.

Gimmel Daleth, show kindness to the Poor [Gemol Dallim]. Why is the foot of the Gimmel stretched toward the Daleth? Because it is fitting for the benevolent to run after [seek out] the poor.