Post by Rabbi Neil on Feb 21, 2020 23:38:57 GMT
A Sermon for the Board and New Member Shabbat 2020
According to the Mishnah (Avot 1:2), the world stands on three things – al hatorah, al ha’avodah, v’al g’milut chasadim – on learning, on service and on good deeds. Torah, or learning, is simple to understand – it’s engagement in the many texts of our tradition, from the Bible to Rabbinic commentaries and narratives throughout the ages, up until today. It’s an exploration of the differing paths our predecessors have taken to understand their place in the world, or their understanding of what it means to be human in the face of God. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving kindness, is also fairly easy to understand. In our tradition there is a difference between tz’dakah and g’milut chasadim – between charity and good deeds. Tz’dakah isn’t dropping money in a box, it’s what we owe. It’s a duty. It’s not optional for Jews. The Rabbis discuss how much one should give, but never for a moment consider that any Jew should not engage in tz’dakah. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving kindness – are different. The root gimmel-lamed-mem, from which the first of the words g’milut chasadim comes from the idea of reciprocation. These are acts that are done in the context of a relationship, which means that there is some form of reward, or at least positive benefit, in performing such acts. For example, we learn from Rabbi Yochanan (Shabbat 127a) that there are six acts of loving-kindness from which we derive reward in this world – hospitality towards guests, visiting the sick, attentiveness in prayer, rising early to study, raising children who engage in studying Torah, and judging another person favorably. The anonymous voice of the Talmud asks if that’s actually the case, since we learned elsewhere that in fact the acts of loving-kindness that bring reward in this world are honoring one’s father and mother, acts of loving-kindness, bringing peace between individuals, and it concludes by saying that Torah study is equal to all of these things. The G’mara agrees that this is also true, which is why we sing a combined version of these two quotations, eilu d’varim, on Shabbat morning.
What does it mean that we gain reward from such things? Doesn’t it take away from the act of loving-kindness if we’re gaining reward from it? This isn’t reward like financial reward or a place in heaven or the Book of Life, this is reward as in “reciprocal benefit.” When we put a coin in a tz’dakah box, there is no reciprocation – in fact, it is seen by our tradition as being a greater act of tz’dakah when the donor and the recipient do not know each other. However, with g’milut chasadim, with acts of loving-kindness, it is the opposite - we also benefit because such acts necessarily involve a relationship. So, which is preferable?
In Talmud (Sukkah 49b), Rabbi Eliezer informs us that an act of charity is greater than any act of sacrificial offering, based on the quotation from Proverbs (21:3) that literally says that “performing an act of charity or justice is more acceptable to God than an offering.” Then he then goes further and says that “acts of loving kindness are better than acts of charity.” That’s an extraordinary statement. We spend so much time and attention on tz’dakah, especially in Preschool and Religious School. We normalize the act of giving to charity by encouraging donations of tz’dakah. And yet, according to our tradition, g‘milut chasadim is greater than tz’dakah. But why would g’milut chasadim be greater than tz’dakah? The Sages explain. Firstly, charity can only be performed with one’s own money, whereas g’milut chasadim, acts of loving kindness, can be performed not only with our money but also with our body. Secondly, charity is only given to the poor, whereas g’milut chasadim are performed for all people. Finally, charity is only for the living, whereas acts of lovingkindness can be for the living and even for the dead. Maimonides says (Mishneh Torah 14) that chesed, the foundation of gemilut chasadim, occurs when there is understanding between two people. One might say that the relationship that is essential for an act of g’milut chasadim is not one of dependency, but one of recognizing the Divine in the other, of truly seeing that the other person is made b’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God. Tz’dakah addresses the immediate need of a person, chesed understands the deeper human need. Tz’dakah is important, but is only surface-deep, g’milut chasadim go much deeper. Tz’dakah responds to a need, g’milut chasadim responds to a person. Tz’dakah is from one person to another in need, and that act stops there, whereas g’milut chasadim are contagious – if you truly honor the full humanity of one person, they are then more likely to go and honor the full humanity of someone else.
Back to our original quotation, then – al sh’losha d’varim ha’olam omed: al hatorah, v’al ha’avodah v’al g’milut chasadim… the world stands on three things: on study, on service and on acts of loving-kindness. That obviously doesn’t mean the physical continuance of the world, it means us, us in the world. Human society, community, depends on study, on service, and on acts of loving-kindness.
Six years ago, I came to visit this community for a Rabbinic interview. There were three things that immediately struck me that were wonderful about Temple Beth Shalom – torah, avodah and g’milut chasadim. Torah – the life-long learning opportunities, a Preschool, a Religious School that was over tive times the size of the one in my previous community, a thriving b’nei mitzvah program, family education, adult education, Shabbat morning Torah study… so much learning! Avodah – service to the community - Board members, staff, committee members, so many people committed to helping this community thrive, as well as people who attended prayer services and who together explored what service to God meant to them. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving-kindness. This is what amazed me more than anything else about this community, actually. The warmth, the love, the respect, being shown around Santa Fe, being invited to dinner, feeling welcomed into a larger family. I obviously am not alone in that. In the last year alone, 39 new households joined our community, taking us past a total of 350 households, or, in more human and thus more important terms, 835 people of all ages. This very large family known as Temple Beth Shalom is based on three things – on learning, on service and on acts of loving-kindness, and that’s why it’s growing, because those three things are basic human needs – education, action, human connection. We need to be part of these things and we also need to express these things. What is quite extraordinary about this community is that our acts of caring for one another aren’t perfunctory, they’re genuine expressions of self, genuine acts of loving-kindness based on connection. I spent years learning Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Halakhah, Aggadah, Hebrew, Aramaic and so much more. These things are all important – essential, in fact, for the first of our three elements of community, learning, but they are is not sufficient. I spent years learning community development, staff management, board dynamics, budgeting, how to create empowering services and rituals and so much more. These things are also important – essential, in fact, for the second of our three elements of community – service - but they are also not sufficient. The third element – g’milut chasadim – cannot be taught. It can only be experienced and then transmitted. It was here, at Temple Beth Shalom, that I really learned g’milut chasadim. It was here, at Temple Beth Shalom, that I came to understand that learning and management are nothing without profound human relationship. In other words, it was here that I was Santa Fe’d! And I am genuinely a happier person because of it.
Some communities have a culture of g’milut chasadim, some do not, and this one definitely does. That is because of the members of this community – from brand new members to long-term members – from those who participate financially to our community to those who gather to pray together to those who serve on the Board to all the staff members and to every other member who is a part of our large family. We all contribute to a warm, loving, friendly, wonderful community.
This Shabbat, we particularly honor our new members and we also honor both the outgoing and the incoming members of the Temple Board but we can do so only in the context of honoring every member simply for being, for their own unique expression of God’s image, for being with us and thereby for enabling us to see yet another unique and wonderful aspect of the Divine. At the end of my Skype interview for this post, I was asked if I had any questions so I asked if God is in this community. I now know that the answer is yes, and God’s face is expressed in every member of our community. That is the essence of g’milut chasadim, and that is the essence of our community. May God’s face continue to shine for years to come through us all and upon us all, and let us say, Amen.
According to the Mishnah (Avot 1:2), the world stands on three things – al hatorah, al ha’avodah, v’al g’milut chasadim – on learning, on service and on good deeds. Torah, or learning, is simple to understand – it’s engagement in the many texts of our tradition, from the Bible to Rabbinic commentaries and narratives throughout the ages, up until today. It’s an exploration of the differing paths our predecessors have taken to understand their place in the world, or their understanding of what it means to be human in the face of God. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving kindness, is also fairly easy to understand. In our tradition there is a difference between tz’dakah and g’milut chasadim – between charity and good deeds. Tz’dakah isn’t dropping money in a box, it’s what we owe. It’s a duty. It’s not optional for Jews. The Rabbis discuss how much one should give, but never for a moment consider that any Jew should not engage in tz’dakah. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving kindness – are different. The root gimmel-lamed-mem, from which the first of the words g’milut chasadim comes from the idea of reciprocation. These are acts that are done in the context of a relationship, which means that there is some form of reward, or at least positive benefit, in performing such acts. For example, we learn from Rabbi Yochanan (Shabbat 127a) that there are six acts of loving-kindness from which we derive reward in this world – hospitality towards guests, visiting the sick, attentiveness in prayer, rising early to study, raising children who engage in studying Torah, and judging another person favorably. The anonymous voice of the Talmud asks if that’s actually the case, since we learned elsewhere that in fact the acts of loving-kindness that bring reward in this world are honoring one’s father and mother, acts of loving-kindness, bringing peace between individuals, and it concludes by saying that Torah study is equal to all of these things. The G’mara agrees that this is also true, which is why we sing a combined version of these two quotations, eilu d’varim, on Shabbat morning.
What does it mean that we gain reward from such things? Doesn’t it take away from the act of loving-kindness if we’re gaining reward from it? This isn’t reward like financial reward or a place in heaven or the Book of Life, this is reward as in “reciprocal benefit.” When we put a coin in a tz’dakah box, there is no reciprocation – in fact, it is seen by our tradition as being a greater act of tz’dakah when the donor and the recipient do not know each other. However, with g’milut chasadim, with acts of loving-kindness, it is the opposite - we also benefit because such acts necessarily involve a relationship. So, which is preferable?
In Talmud (Sukkah 49b), Rabbi Eliezer informs us that an act of charity is greater than any act of sacrificial offering, based on the quotation from Proverbs (21:3) that literally says that “performing an act of charity or justice is more acceptable to God than an offering.” Then he then goes further and says that “acts of loving kindness are better than acts of charity.” That’s an extraordinary statement. We spend so much time and attention on tz’dakah, especially in Preschool and Religious School. We normalize the act of giving to charity by encouraging donations of tz’dakah. And yet, according to our tradition, g‘milut chasadim is greater than tz’dakah. But why would g’milut chasadim be greater than tz’dakah? The Sages explain. Firstly, charity can only be performed with one’s own money, whereas g’milut chasadim, acts of loving kindness, can be performed not only with our money but also with our body. Secondly, charity is only given to the poor, whereas g’milut chasadim are performed for all people. Finally, charity is only for the living, whereas acts of lovingkindness can be for the living and even for the dead. Maimonides says (Mishneh Torah 14) that chesed, the foundation of gemilut chasadim, occurs when there is understanding between two people. One might say that the relationship that is essential for an act of g’milut chasadim is not one of dependency, but one of recognizing the Divine in the other, of truly seeing that the other person is made b’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God. Tz’dakah addresses the immediate need of a person, chesed understands the deeper human need. Tz’dakah is important, but is only surface-deep, g’milut chasadim go much deeper. Tz’dakah responds to a need, g’milut chasadim responds to a person. Tz’dakah is from one person to another in need, and that act stops there, whereas g’milut chasadim are contagious – if you truly honor the full humanity of one person, they are then more likely to go and honor the full humanity of someone else.
Back to our original quotation, then – al sh’losha d’varim ha’olam omed: al hatorah, v’al ha’avodah v’al g’milut chasadim… the world stands on three things: on study, on service and on acts of loving-kindness. That obviously doesn’t mean the physical continuance of the world, it means us, us in the world. Human society, community, depends on study, on service, and on acts of loving-kindness.
Six years ago, I came to visit this community for a Rabbinic interview. There were three things that immediately struck me that were wonderful about Temple Beth Shalom – torah, avodah and g’milut chasadim. Torah – the life-long learning opportunities, a Preschool, a Religious School that was over tive times the size of the one in my previous community, a thriving b’nei mitzvah program, family education, adult education, Shabbat morning Torah study… so much learning! Avodah – service to the community - Board members, staff, committee members, so many people committed to helping this community thrive, as well as people who attended prayer services and who together explored what service to God meant to them. G’milut chasadim – acts of loving-kindness. This is what amazed me more than anything else about this community, actually. The warmth, the love, the respect, being shown around Santa Fe, being invited to dinner, feeling welcomed into a larger family. I obviously am not alone in that. In the last year alone, 39 new households joined our community, taking us past a total of 350 households, or, in more human and thus more important terms, 835 people of all ages. This very large family known as Temple Beth Shalom is based on three things – on learning, on service and on acts of loving-kindness, and that’s why it’s growing, because those three things are basic human needs – education, action, human connection. We need to be part of these things and we also need to express these things. What is quite extraordinary about this community is that our acts of caring for one another aren’t perfunctory, they’re genuine expressions of self, genuine acts of loving-kindness based on connection. I spent years learning Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Halakhah, Aggadah, Hebrew, Aramaic and so much more. These things are all important – essential, in fact, for the first of our three elements of community, learning, but they are is not sufficient. I spent years learning community development, staff management, board dynamics, budgeting, how to create empowering services and rituals and so much more. These things are also important – essential, in fact, for the second of our three elements of community – service - but they are also not sufficient. The third element – g’milut chasadim – cannot be taught. It can only be experienced and then transmitted. It was here, at Temple Beth Shalom, that I really learned g’milut chasadim. It was here, at Temple Beth Shalom, that I came to understand that learning and management are nothing without profound human relationship. In other words, it was here that I was Santa Fe’d! And I am genuinely a happier person because of it.
Some communities have a culture of g’milut chasadim, some do not, and this one definitely does. That is because of the members of this community – from brand new members to long-term members – from those who participate financially to our community to those who gather to pray together to those who serve on the Board to all the staff members and to every other member who is a part of our large family. We all contribute to a warm, loving, friendly, wonderful community.
This Shabbat, we particularly honor our new members and we also honor both the outgoing and the incoming members of the Temple Board but we can do so only in the context of honoring every member simply for being, for their own unique expression of God’s image, for being with us and thereby for enabling us to see yet another unique and wonderful aspect of the Divine. At the end of my Skype interview for this post, I was asked if I had any questions so I asked if God is in this community. I now know that the answer is yes, and God’s face is expressed in every member of our community. That is the essence of g’milut chasadim, and that is the essence of our community. May God’s face continue to shine for years to come through us all and upon us all, and let us say, Amen.