CHESED: INCARNATINGDIVINE WILL
The Talmud Tractate Shabbos 127a presents the followingstatement:
Rav Judah said in Rav's name: Hospitality to wayfarers is greaterthan welcoming the presence of the Shechinah…
TheWhole section reads as follows:
אמר רבי יוחנן: גדולה הכנסת אורחין כהשכמת ביתהמדרש, דקתני מפני האורחין ומפני בטול בית המדרש. ורב דימי מנהרדעא אמר: יותרמהשכמת בית המדרש, דקתני מפני האורחין והדר ומפני בטול בית המדרש. אמר רב יהודהאמר רב: גדולה הכנסת אורחין מהקבלת פני שכינה, דכתיב ויאמר, ה', אם נא מצאתי חןבעיניך אל נא תעבר...
A. R.Yochanan said: Hospitality to wayfarers is as great as early attendance at theBeth Hamidrash…
B. R. Dimiof Nehardea said: It is ‘greater’ than early attendance at the Beth Hamidrash…
Rav Judah said in Rav's name: Hospitality to wayfarers is greaterthan welcoming the presence of the Shechinah…for it is written, “And he said,My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not leave your servant.[In other words: “Please wait for me, O Lord while I leave you in order toprovide hospitality for these wayfarers.”]
Readingthese statements superficially, we might conclude that chesed and spiritualityare essentially in conflict, and when they do clash, we must embrace thehumanistic option at the expense of enhancing the Man-God relationship. I wantto suggest, alternatively, that no such clash exists.
Judaismteaches that the humanistic gesture does not entail a spiritual vacuum or a“disconnect” from Hashem. On the contrary, only two Jewishly-authentic optionsexist: either [1] to relate directly to Hashem, through prayer, Torah study,and observing the so called “ritualistic mitzvos” - מצוות בין אדם למקום; or [2] to act as Hisagent, i.e., His שליח, “His angel,” His presencein this world. When we accept upon ourselves the duties of Divine agency, ouractions become the incarnation of Divine will, which the Talmud views asthe highest form of spirituality. To elaborate a bit more:
Hashem,the quintessential גומל חסדים טובים [the One Who bestows loving-kindness] is the ultimatesource of all chesed. In the absence of crisis - i.e., when life is experiencedas “normal” - the religiously oriented individual is aware of Hashem’sunmediated and ongoing chesed - His nurturing, sustaining presence. Consider,for example, ברכתאשר יצר, as well as ברכות השחר in general. Also,consider the numerous Psalms, especially those we recite every morning, whichassert that Hashem is the enabler of the natural order – in the cosmic realityas well as in the life of each individual. For example:
Psalm 147:
(ג) הָ֭רֹפֵא לִשְׁב֣וּרֵי לֵ֑ב וּ֝מְחַבֵּ֗שׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם
(ו) מְעוֹדֵ֣ד עֲנָוִ֣ים יְקֹוָ֑ק מַשְׁפִּ֖יל רְשָׁעִ֣יםעֲדֵי־אָֽרֶץ:
ח)הַֽמְכַסֶּ֬ה שָׁמַ֨יִם׀ בְּעָבִ֗ים הַמֵּכִ֣ין לָאָ֣רֶץ מָטָ֑ר הַמַּצְמִ֖יחַהָרִ֣ים חָצִֽיר:
(ט) נוֹתֵ֣ן לִבְהֵמָ֣ה לַחְמָ֑הּ לִבְנֵ֥י עֹ֝רֵ֗ב אֲשֶׁ֣ריִקְרָֽאוּ:
3 He heals the brokenhearted
* and binds up their wounds.*
6 The LORD sustains the humble
8 He covers the sky with clouds;
* he supplies the earth with rain*
* and makes grass grow on the hills.*
9 He provides food for the cattle
* and for the young ravens when they call.*
Consideralso the following Midrash [from Bereshis Raba, Bereshis #14:
ר' לוי בשם ר' חנינא אמר על כל נשימה ונשימה שאדם נושם צריך לקלסלבורא מ"ט (תהלים קנ) כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה כל הנשימה תהלל י-ה..
…for each breath that a person takes, he must praise the Creator…
Crises,on the other hand, often challenge that awareness and as a result, the suffererfeels cosmically abandoned:
א-לי א-לי למה עזבתני. My God My God: Why have Youforsaken me? [Psalms 22:2]
Halachahinforms us that such moments of crisis precipitate the mitzvah of chesed; thesecritical situations mandate us to become Hashem’s “chesed-deliveryagents.” In other words, mitzvos bayn adaml’chavayro require us to “stand in” for Hashem, so to speak. Thebeneficiary of our chesed will thereby realize that Hashem has not abandonedhim, for He has sent His human agents to provide him with divine sustenance andsupport.
TheTalmud asserts שלוחושל אדם כמותו i.e., Aperson’s agent is equal to himself. This equality, in alegal sense, between the agent and the principal, may serve to explain theTalmud’s assertion, quoted in the beginning of this essay:
גדולה הכנסת אורחיו מקבלת פני השכינה - The act of sustaining hungry and tired wayfarers is greater than"hosting" the Divine Presence.
The בעל חסד - literally, "the master of loving-kindness" - becomesHashem's agent; as a result, his chesed-actions become an embodiment - anincarnation - of the Divine will. The Talmud informs us that this act oftransforming oneself into extension of Hashem’s will is greater than is the(less transformative) act of “hosting” the Shechinah.
Postscript: two points:
- Theforegoing analysis presupposes that the imperative of והלכת בדרכיו - You shall walk in His ways –is realized through the mechanism of שליחות - agency. I feel thatthis this equation is compelling but others may take issue.
- Thefollowing passage, from Kiddushin 32b, stresses the Divine nature of chesed in this world. Therefore,sit implies that the act of serving others constitutes a realization of Divineagency - walking in His ways.
Kiddushin32b
מעשה ברבי אליעזר ורבי יהושע ורבי צדוק שהיומסובין בבית המשתה בנו של רבן גמליאל, והיה רבן גמליאל עומד ומשקה עליהם, נתן הכוסלר' אליעזר ולא נטלו, נתנו לר' יהושע וק יבלו; אמר לו רבי אליעזר: מה זה, יהושע,אנו יושבין ורבן גמליאל (ברבי) +מסורת הש"ס: [דרבי]+ עומד ומשקה עלינו? אמרליה: מצינו גדול ממנו ששמש, (אברהם גדול ממנו ושמש) אברהם גדול הדור היה, וכתובבו: והוא עומד עליהם! ושמא תאמרו, כמלאכי השרת נדמו לו? לא נדמו לו אלא לערביים,ואנו לא יהא רבן גמליאל ברבי עומד ומשקה עלינו? אמר להם רבי צדוק: עד מתי אתםמניחים כבודו של מקום ואתם עוסקים בכבוד הבריות? הקדוש ברוך הוא משיב רוחות ומעלהנשיאים ומוריד מטר ומצמיח אדמה, ועורך שולחן לפני כל אחד ואחד, ואנו לא יהא רבןגמליאל ברבי עומד ומשקה עלינו?
It once happened that R. Eliezer, R. Joshua and R. Tzadok were atthe banquet of Rabban Gamaliel's son’s wedding, while Rabban Gamaliel wasstanding over them and serving drink. When he offered a cup to R. Eliezer, hedid not accept it; but when he offered it to R. Yehoshua, he did. Said R.Eliezer to R. Yehoshua, “What is this, Yehoshua: we are sitting, while RabbanGamaliel is standing over us and serving drink!” R. Yehoshua replied, “Wefind that a greater man than Rabban Gamliel served others: Avraham was thegreatest man of his generation, yet it is written of him Bereshis 18:8], ‘Hestood over them [to serve them] as they ate.’! …Then shall not R. Gamalielstand over us and offer drink?!” Whereupon R. Tzadok commented, “How long willyou disregard the honor of the Omnipresent and occupy yourselves with the honorof men? The Holy One, blessed be He, causes the winds to blow, the vaporsto ascend, the rain to fall, the earth to yield, and sets a table before everyone; and we - shall we not allow R. Gamaliel to stand over us and offer usdrink?!”