The Kindness Factor

Parshas Lech Lecha

Posted on November 5, 2024 (5785) By Rabbi Naftali Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner

 

Kindness is gentle. Faith is fierce. Kindness is soft. Faith is inflexible. Kindness is accommodating. Faith is dogmatic. Does this mean that a person cannot be kind and faithful at the same time. Of course not. A person can certainly be kind-hearted to other people yet rigidly faithful in his own beliefs. Nonetheless, these two characteristics tap into distinctly different parts of the psyche.

 

And yet, in this week’s Torah portion we find a strange paradox. Abraham, the first patriarch of the Jewish people, is introduced as the paragon of faith. In a world seething with idolatry, Abraham sees through the myth and the nonsense and recognizes the one and only eternal omnipotent Creator. With extraordinary faith, he follows Hashem’s commands enthusiastically and without question. He becomes the ultimate man of faith, the perfect role model for all future generations.

 

At the same time, Abraham emerges from the pages of the Torah as a man of incredible kindness. Amazingly, he even begs leave from a divine encounter to run after three ragged dusty travelers and invite them into his home. There is no greater role model for kindness and hospitality than Abraham in all the history of the world. Is it merely a coincidence that the same person achieved the ultimate levels of kindness and faith, these two widely disparate virtues?

 

Or is there indeed some connection between the two?

 

Let us reflect for a moment on a rather intriguing question. For twenty generations before Abraham, idolatry had held the world in an iron grip. No voice of reason declared the unity of the Master of the Universe until Abraham. Why was this so? Were there no intelligent people among the millions who passed through the world during this time? Was there no one clever enough to discern the utter foolishness of the idolatrous cults?

 

Quite likely, there were considerably more than a few people capable of recognizing the Creator in the centuries before Abraham. Why didn’t they? Because they preferred not to think about it. Idolatry demanded a considerable amount of homage from people, but it also allowed them unlimited license. The idolatrous cults espoused no systems of morality. They did not encourage self-improvement and the striving for transcendent spirituality. Instead, they allowed, and even encouraged, the indulgence of every carnal impulse. The people of those times were steeped in greed and all sorts of gratification, and they had little interest in ideologies that would restrict their pleasures.

 

Why then was Abraham able to escape this mold? Because his innate kindness and compassion led him to rise above base egotism. Because he was able to look beyond himself, he recognized the truth of the universe. It was his kindness that led him to faith.

 

A young man from a religious family strayed and eventually abandoned his religion altogether. His family persuaded him to discuss his newly chosen way of life with a certain great sage.

“Tell me, young man,” said the sage. “Why did you abandon the ways of your forefathers?”

 

“Because they didn’t make sense,” the young man replied, and he went on to list numerous questions and arguments.

 

The sage listened gravely and nodded from time to time. “Very interesting,” he said. “You know, of course, that it’s not the first time we’ve heard these questions. When did you first think about them?”

 

“Well,” said the young man, fidgeting. “In the last year or two.”

 

“When you discovered the outside world?” asked the sage.

 

“Yes,” the young man replied, his voice barely audible.

 

“You are an intelligent young fellow,” said the sage. “Yet you didn’t have these question until recently.

 

 You know why? Because you had no need for them. But now that you see what kind of opportunities await you out there, you needed these questions to set you free.”

 

In our own lives, contemporary society constantly presents us with all sorts of distractions and temptations which can easily lead us away from the pure path of Judaism. In these circumstances, it is easy to rationalize, to tell ourselves that the Torah is being unnecessarily stringent in certain things and that a little bit of this and just a wee bit of that cannot really do any harm. But is it truly our rationalism speaking?

 

Or is it perhaps our wants and desires? Only when we rise above our self-interest can we expect to recognize the true meaning of life.

 

Text Copyright © 2008 by Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.

 

A Life of Blessing

Parshas Lech Lecha

Posted on November 8, 2019 (5780) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah| Level: Beginner

And HASHEM said to Avram, “Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you.” (Breishis 12:1-3) and I will bless you: with money (Rashi)

 

Essentially Avram, who later became Avraham, is being offered an incentive – compensation package for braving to leave everything near and dear, land, birthplace, and family. He is promised, not just family, but a great nation, prosperity, to carry out his enormous dreams, and fame too.  It’s the conclusion of that verse that seems incongruent with the first three parts. “…and you shall be a blessing”.

 

Usually when someone enjoys such incredible success, family, fortune, and fame, then they are not such a blessing. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The ego is easily intoxicated with even its tiniest triumphs. However, Avraham is being promised that, with all his attainments, he will be a blessing. It’s a steep challenge. How can it be done?

 

The Chovos HaLevavos outlines three reasons why HASHEM might grant someone wealth, and he offers signs, symptoms that indicate which reason is at play.

 

1)     A person might be granted wealth as a punishment. The indication that it is so, is that his wealth is the direct cause for his problems and his ultimate downfall. He falls off his yacht and drowns and the police are unable to determine whether it was foul play or a suicide. All the while he was poor nobody was interested in his demise. Now there is a whole host of suspects and motives, and he is top on the list.

 

2)     Someone might be a recipient of wealth as a test. In this situation the person is paralyzed with indecision. He is so busy just trying to preserve his treasures that he cannot spend it on himself or on others. He only worries and frets and fears losing it but neither he nor anyone else gets benefit from his fortune.

 

3)   In the minority of cases a person is made wealthy as a reward. This is evident by the fact that its recipient uses the money to accomplish more and more in the arena of Torah and Mitzvos. He is able to find more time to learn and he gives more Tzedaka. The son of a wealthy businessman asked me years ago, “How does the Torah look at people with lots of money?” I don’t know if I would give as sharp of an answer today but I told him blankly, “Money is like manure. If you spread it on a field of Mitzvos like fertilizer, then it catalyzes really well. If you just hold on to it, then it will tend to stink!”

When I was learning this piece in my original copy of Chovos HaLevavos I actually wrote down the name of one person I felt certain fell into this third category of having been blessed with money. Reb Ezriel Tauber ztl. was a wealthy businessman and he dedicated his life to teaching and writing and supporting Torah all over the world.  His lifestyle was modest, and all his children were as equally zealous for Torah and Mitzvos as he was. None were spoiled by the presence of wealth.

 

A friend of my wife asked him how he managed to not spoil his children. He said something profound. “I created an account and told them that they can take out whatever they need.

 

However, I also let them know that that money was HEKDESH GELT, holy money, and any funds that they did not use is dedicated for helping the poor, supporting Torah, making seminars, and building Yeshivas.” They respected and honored those values he lived and so he merited a life of blessing.