INCREDIBLE
INVESTMENT: ELUL
Shira Smiles shiur
2019/5779
Adapted by Channie
Koplowitz Stein
In
this season of awe, we often invoke the mantra, “Uteshuvah utefillah
utzedaka ma’avirin et roa hagezaeirah/Repentance, prayer and charity can
turn back a negative decree.” These three paths to a positive outcome are alluded
to in three verses that each contain an acronym to this month of Elul preceding
Rosh Hashanah, notes Rav Schlesinger.
The
first of these verses, from Shir Hashirim, is the most well known: “Ani
ledodi (u)vedodi li/I am to my beloved and my beloved
is to me.” The first letter of each word spells out Elul. This verse
implies a conversation, prayer, tefillah. The second verse, from
Deuteronomy, implies return and atonement: “Umal et levovcha (u)vet
levav zarecha/ And He will circumcise your heart and the heart of
your offspring,” bringing your hearts closer, implies regret, atonement and
return, teshuvah. Our final verse is from Megillat Esther: “Mishloach
manot (e)ish lere’eyhu umatanot la’evyonim/Sending
mishloach manot each to his friend and gifts to the poor,” an obvious
allusion to tzedakah.
During
the month of Elul and throughout the Yomim Noraim/Days of Awe we need to
focus on all three of these. While there seems to be a clear connection between
repentance and prayer, we can wonder why, of all the mitzvoth in the Torah, our
Sages chose tzedakah as the third path to completing this trilogy. What
is the special power in tzedakah that it can be instrumental in changing a
decree against us?
One
reason seems obvious. As Rabbi Mintzberg z”lnotes in Ben Melech, so many
of the mitzvoth of the Torah are rooted in the concept of tzekadah, in the
command to create a world that is fair and just, where all people have what
they need while retaining their dignity. As Rabbi Scheinerman explains in
Ohel Moshe, When you give a needy person money he needs, you are giving him
a new lease on life. In reciprocation, Hashem will give you a new lease on life
as well.
Rav
Dovid Hofstadter discusses our question in great depth. First Rav Hofstadter
notes that all three of these tools for averting the negative decree are
alluded to in the verse from Shema we recite twice daily and at bedtime:
“Ve’ahavta et Hashem Elokhecha bechol levavcha uvechol nafshecha uvechol
me’odecha/And you shall love Hashem with all your hearts, and with all your
soul and with all your resources.” “With all your heart,” refers to prayer;
“With all your soul,” refers to teshuvah; “And with all your resources,” refers
to tzedakah.
But
giving charity (a default but very poor translation) can be accomplished on
multiple levels, continues Rabbi Hofstadter. On the first level, when one sees
poverty, one feels an uneasy compassion, and one desires to help the poor
person. This charity is given more to alleviate the donor’s discomfort at the
plight of the poor than as an altruistic act to help the poor. Perhaps the
donor would wish he had not seen the needy person to begin with and therefore
would not have felt the urge to help him. He is filling his own need rather than
the need of the poor person. This giving, although still tzedakah, is selfish
giving.
A
higher level of tzedakah is seeking out people in need so that he can give to
them. The donor’s only need is to give of his possessions to others. This was
the character of Avraham Avinu who was so dejected when he had no visitors to
feed that he sat at his open “doorway” and beseeched Hashem to send a wayfarer
his way. His desire was strictly to benefit others. He seeks opportunities to
help others. In this type of chesed, the giver is acknowledging that all he has
comes from Hashem, and he is actually giving from the wealth that Hashem has
merely entrusted to his care. This level of tzedakah has the ability to annul
an evil decree, for by acknowledging that everything comes from Hashem, he
proves himself worthy of continuing to receive Hashem’s blessings.
But
the highest form of tzedakah is performed with the intention of imitating the
characteristics and behavior of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Here, the sole intention of
giving is the desire to help and give to others. Hashem’s purpose in creating
Man was so that He would have a recipient for all He had to give. When our sole
purpose is to give to others, we are validating Hashem’s purpose in creating
Man and are meriting further life and blessings.
We
tend to think that tzedakah is limited to giving money to the needy. Rabbi
Mintzberg z”l takes us in an additional direction. In our verse from Megillat
Esther, only the second half of the verse refers to giving to the poor. The first
half is about ish lere’eyhu/each to his friend. An integral part of
tzedakah is building relationship, having a generous spirit and a “good eye”
for your fellow. Tzedakah is not confined to money. It includes being happy at
another’s good fortune, raising the spirits of someone who is depressed,
responding to the emotional needs of another. Chesed and tzedakah are
intimately related. When you interact with others this way, Hashem will view
you as well with a generous eye.
Rabbi
Scheinerman reminds us that Hashem has instituted a system of measure for
measure in the way He runs the world. Therefore, if someone shows mercy toward
others, Hashem will likewise show mercy on him even if he is otherwise
unworthy. This system also works in reverse, adds Rav Wolbe z”l. If you show no
mercy to others, Hashem will withhold His mercy from you. If someone has other
positive attributes but he is too demanding of or strict with others, why would
Hashem nevertheless not be merciful with him in light of his other good
attributes?
The
answer, says Rav Wolbe z”l, is that the character of being charitable creates
tools and vessels that can accept and fill up with blessings and plenty. If you
don’t have these vessels, there is nothing that Hashem can fill. We determine
how Hashem will interact with us by how we interact with others. If we are
angry, miserly, or demeaning with others, that is how Hashem will interact with
us. If, on the other hand, we are compassionate, uplifting and generous with
others, we will have created huge vessels that Hashem can fill to the top.
From
Rosh Chodesh Elul we start reciting the Psalm LeDovid Hashem ori twice
daily. Rabbi Shapiro in Keter Meluchah
offers a beautiful, Kabbalistic
reason for this custom. Basing his explanation on the Arizal, Rabbi
Shapiro
notes that Hashem’s name appears thirteen times in this Psalm,
paralleling the
thirteen names and attributes of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. By reciting this
twice
daily, we are calling Hashem’s name a total of twenty-six times,
the numerical
equivalent of His four lettered name symbolizing mercy. We are thus
bearing
witness that there is none other but Hashem, and we thereby expel the
angelic
court of justice and asking Hashem Himself to be our judge. But
we must
understand that merely reciting this Psalm and reciting the thirteen
attributes
of Hashem will be ineffective unless we emulate Hashem by acting
according to
these attributes. We will have opened the door, and then He will
interact with
us in a close, loving relationship that the angels are incapable of
having.
The
Sifsei Chaim brings yet another facet to our discussion. He cites the
verse from Psalms 85, “Kindness and truth have met, righteousness and peace
have kissed.” If you relate to the world only through truth, judgment, the
strict interpretation of Torah without having it meet kindness, you cannot make
peace and wholeness even in your own actions. Even when we do mitzvoth, there
is usually a tinge of impurity, a lack of proper thought in its performance. If
we want Hashem to view our mitzvah performance as complete and perfect, we have
to give the benefit of the doubt to others as well. We must look for ways to do
kindness, in deed and in judgment, to others.
Just
as tzedakah has gradations, so too does chesed, continues the Sifsei Chaim.
Sometimes we may do a chesed by rote, or we may feel obligated to do so. For
example, we may feel obligated to invite a neighbor for a Shabbat meal even if
we are not happy to do so because we see no way out of extending the invitation.
This is not true chesed. True chesed is ahavat chesed, love of chesed
that prompts us to look for chesed opportunities. It requires us to step
outside oneself and see the need of the other. This chesed should be part of
our daily routines, of considering how to make life just a little easier for
the other. Are you taking up two parking spaces and too tired to straighten out
your car? Are you making room on the supermarket’s conveyor belt so the person
behind you, juggling her groceries without a shopping cart, can put them down?
Even holding the door an extra minute for someone who walks slowly is an act of
chesed. These acts (and hundreds of others) require that we be attuned to the
people around us. Even a smile can raise someone’s spirit and gives them
dignity. When you go beyond the “I”, there is less “I” even in a sin committed
for Hashem to condemn.
Chesed
is about changing yourself from being a taker to being a giver, of taking one’s
personal physicality and transforming it to spirituality, writes Rabbi Moshe
Schwab z”l.
Tomer
Devorah tells us that there are angels tasked with collecting acts of chesed
Bnei Yisroel perform. When Hashem is contemplating judgment against Bnei
Yisroel, these angels display the acts of kindness before Hakodosh Boruch Hu,
and Hashem displays compassion.
The
medrash of Hashem’s discussion with the angels concerning whether to create the
world or not is very relevant to us today. Emes and chesed were
in disagreement. Emes/truth/strict judgment was against the creation of
the world while chesed/kindness/compassion advocated for the creation.
Ultimately, chesed succeeded, and Hashem created the world on the promise of
continuing chesed among humankind. This chesed is necessary constantly, as
Hashem recreates the world each day, writes the Tolner Rebbe. If we want our
world and our lives to continue, we must work on the mitzvoth of chesed
constantly. Even if we do not see a specific need at a specific time, one can
always pray for others, for their health, finances, children, finding a
shidduch… Be generous with your prayers. It doesn’t even cost you anything.
Rabbi
Gedaliah Eisenman z”l gives us one more thought about the power of
chesed. Since proper chesed is about connecting to others, when we perform act
of chesed, we become part of the collective of Am Yisroel. Together as a
community we will always continue. The judgment of an individual within that
community will therefore not be as harsh as the judgment would be for him as an
individual outside of the klal.
Let
us all be part of the collective of Klal Yisroel. Let us be aware of and
sensitive to the needs of others around us. Whether through tzedakah or acts of
chesed, may we merit a year full of goodness.