Behar-Bechukosai - Transformative Kindness

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari goldwag recorded with hashem's never running assistance in romapace Israel 5783 2023 this week's parisha we have Bahar and bikhulk outside and I'd like to share with you a piece in the madrish in Paris Bahar it's going on the Torah offers us a number of different ways to interact with the person who's poor one of the interactions happens to be that if the person can't pay back let's say he's stolen something let's say he doesn't have the wherewithal to pay for his needs so there's such a thing as an avid as a Jewish slave and we're not going to get into the concept of the Jewish slave but the magician is going on as possuk when it speaks about different ways of dealing with people who are poor those who have less than us those who need sadaka those who need charity and we're going to see that there are four different possibilities as to how much a person needs a charity and still we're going to see that in all of these cases in all these situations there's an appropriate way of interacting with these people I'm assuming in the name of abilizer says that there are four different situations foreign we find that who is it that did kindness with somebody who didn't actually need the kindness foreign we find that Abraham with the angels who came to visit him to inform him to inform his wife that they're going to have a child to inform him about the destruction of stone so the posic describes the verses describe how he came out and he greeted them and he provided them with food [Music] I mean he was standing over them they were under the tree and they ate did these angels eat anything so they made it appear as if they were actually eating but the truth is they were Angels Angels don't need to eat food so avram avinu was doing kindness of course he wasn't aware of the fact that these were angels but abramovino Abraham did kindness to those who did not need the kindness so is that a Myla is that a is that a positive thing to give somebody food when they don't need to eat foreign now in reward for this in reward for this kindness of avram avinu the message tells us that Hashem paid him back paid back his great-great-grandchildren hamoni or Elohim right in the fact for the for the in the Merit of the fact that he gave the Angels food so the Jewish people had food in the midboard they had the mon uh he gave them drinks so they had the water slav Muslim they had the quail vanity covered mckify some and because he gave them shelter so Hashem protected the Jewish people in the midwar Amazon name and the Clouds Of Glory hashem's Glory went in front of them so he was rewarded for something about climber says we can deduce from here something incredible um said if we're talking about somebody who does kindness and the person we did kindness for didn't need that kindness nevertheless Hashem saw his kindness and he paid back so to speak he provided a reward to his great grandchildren even though the kindness wasn't needed someone who does kindness It's only does charity with somebody who needs the kindness needs the charity certainly will be rewarded in an even greater measure so it's very interesting we could ask here and we'll ask as we continue as well but what is the Myla what is the advantage of doing kindness to someone who doesn't really need your kindness I mean should I walk around and do favors for people who don't need my favors what's the message teaching us what what is the reason why Ava mavina was rewarded if he hadn't done something that was necessary or needed we understand the cavalheimer we understand that certainly we will get rewarded if we do something that is needed but what is the reason for the reward for something that's not needed so let's hold on to that question for a minute and we'll we'll continue now represent the name of Lazar said another another scenario where someone does kindness me and shilia said no this this situation is actually where someone did not do kindness now they didn't do kindness and in the situation as we'll see the person didn't really need any kindness so was there anything wrong with that let's say somebody you have an opportunity to do someone a favor but they don't really need your favor is that a negative thing to not do them a favor let's see in Israel with the people of Amon and Moab the way they interacted with the Jewish people was in this type of situation we see that why is an ammonia people from these two Nations men specifically from these two Nations why are they not allowed to marry into the Jewish people why if they become proselytes are they not allowed to marry into the Jewish people [Music] because they had a very negative character trait we could say or well the posture of the public is because they did something very negative they didn't come out and respect you with food and drink the measures did the Jewish people need this did the Jewish people need Mayim they didn't need the bread and water if I like all is exactly what we said was the reward of our mavino for as having done kindness which wasn't which wasn't necessary but nevertheless he received reward his great great grandchildren received reward why did they receive reward because of avram so they had all these things they had they had bread they had drinks they had the quail they had they had full protection they didn't need anything else they didn't need any bread and water what's the big deal I'm gonna Moab didn't give them bread and water they didn't need it but there was something lacking in there uh decency they're simple human decency their proper respect for other people it's it's Tara Harris somebody is traveling someone comes to your home when they were just traveling you give them you give them food you give them a drink it's common decency human decency but they didn't do that they didn't have the common decency um now what's the result of the amanamoa people not having the common decency to give food and drink to the Jewish people who didn't need it but nevertheless they should have done it so the result is that they're not allowed to marry into the Jewish people climber said the Magician of the cavalheimer um let's take a look if someone doesn't do kindness should have done kindness kindness wasn't completely needed but should have been done and what's the result we see the result they're not allowed to be part of the Jewish people which is a spiritually devastating result foreign so if I don't do kindness for those who need kindness the the result is going to be that someone who doesn't do kindness for those who need kindness is going to have a very negative result certainly someone who doesn't do kindness for someone who does need kindness just making sure that I said that certainly is going to have a negative result he's done something which is spiritually devastating now again it's interesting here why are they being punished for not doing something which wasn't necessary right but every movie was rewarded for something that wasn't needed here they're being punished for something that's not needed why is there a punishment for for not doing something that's not needed and why is there a reward for doing something that is needed what is the idea of Dara Harris it's the way of the world it's proper human decency what makes it human decency if it's not needed it's not needed what's the what's the concept here what's the depth [Music] okay again hold on to that question but shitohari ologer says another situation this one is interesting what about doing kindness with somebody who you owe them they did something they did something to help you and you're now doing kindness for them so is that a great thing or maybe that's just a nice thing because I'm saying it's it's uh you know it's the right thing to do sometimes you a favor to do my favor back let's see what it says would we find that the Torah describes the kindness that he does for somebody who had done him a favor this is Israel the father-in-law of Moshe by Johannes he said to his daughters wow this man helped you he saved you he took care of you he gave you and your animals to drink so call him and and we'll make sure to give him bread Simmons says that he actually was giving him he said bring him in we're going to feed him let's feed Moshe let's feed this person who helped you out so he was really paying back in a certain sense he was doing him a favor bringing him in giving him a meal but at the same time he had done his daughters a favor he had done a favor for his kids so he owed him okay there's a question here discussion exactly if Moshe Rabino did it for the girls if he did it for him for for the other Shepherds as well was it really such a great thing but the pastor says that he gave he did something did something to help you so his daughters and Israel felt indebted and he repaided me to kindness now what was the reward of Israel for doing this kindness to mosheb of amasport when did God pay back the rewards Michelle the reward was paid back there was an outstanding debt and it was paid back in the times of King Saul shalom what does it says when Shaw came to destroy the people of amalek To Kill Them All so the people of amalek were mixed up together with the people of the cane people the cane were the great great grandchildren of Israel social said to all of the people who were from yesterday said to them I'm not coming to kill you I'm coming to kill only amalek remove yourselves from the Maliki people said hold on a second we'll get there but you see that yesterday's Gregory grandchildren were paid off they were paid back for the kindness I used for their great great grandfather had done which is also an interesting point you see that Ivory has paid back how by giving to his grandson I mean there's no question that a parent a grandparent enjoys seeing his children's great grandchildren taken care of but what is the idea that offerman's paid back for his children's but his he's paid back when his children receive something what does it mean that yesterday was paid back when his children receive this kindness now that so again we need to answer that question we're going to come back to the question now the major Point says something else if we think about it did ISRO do kindness with the Jewish people such that the Jewish people owed him and that's why when he comes and he's killing the the amaleky people has to reward the great grandchildren of Israel Mo you still did a favor not to the entire Jewish people he did a favor to motion to Moses Israel this teaches us that whoever this kindness for one of the great people of the Jewish people Israel so we consider it as if he did kindness with the entire Jewish people right who is Moshe his soul includes the entire Jewish people within him he's the leader of the Jewish people and therefore it's considered when you throw to the kindness for him that he did a kindness for the entire Jewish people now so what do we see we see yesterday the kindness for Moshe but he owed Moshe and yet and Yeti is rewarded if we find that Israel is rewarded even though the kindness that he did was owed to the person he did kindness for right who see that Hashem made sure that his great-great-grandchildren would survive in fact to this day there are the Drew's Arabs consider themselves they have a Missouri they have a tradition that they are from ISRO they're from Jethro interesting if I do kindness for somebody who I don't owe them a kindness right I don't owe them anything but I do kindness anyway that's a much greater kindness right that's coming from the from the goodness of my heart certainly certainly I'm going to I'm going to be rewarded and again we can ask the same question that we asked before in this circumstance why indeed is yes we're rewarded for doing something he should do you should do it Moshe to do a favor do my favor back why is excuse me what's the concept here that someone is rewarded for something that's not that that they should do of course they should do it it's not it doesn't seem like it's something that's worthy of such a great reward now we've talked about doing kindness with someone who doesn't need the kindness we've talked about not doing kindness to someone who doesn't need kindness we talked about doing kindness to somebody who you owe kindness to another message comes to the obvious case of doing kindness for someone who needs kindness right who is the example of that rip Simmons has another circumstance who is it who's the example of the tour of someone who does kindness to someone who needed kindness this is Boaz with the kinds for us right Russ came back her husband had died she followed normally she became part of the Jewish people and she's all alone she has no husband she has no wherewithal she has no ability to support herself and Boaz sees her and takes pity on her boys Soros didn't want her to get mixed up with people who would take advantage of her she was very beautiful she was a she was a princess of the Moab people she had chosen to become part of the Jewish people she would end up being the great grandmother of David and Michael King David but at that point she was easily taken advantage of and Boaz looked out for her and he said to her come don't eat with those people eat with you're in a different location eat together I don't know if it was together with him but in a different spot I may be honest with me okay no that's not the main point here but Kai stream Kali um so what happens it's a very interesting thing it's not so clear exactly how much he gave her Boaz specifically went out of his way to give to ruus a certain amount of of grains for her to take that she ate it up and she was full and there was left over so it seems like he gave her a lot he gave her a lot of greens now in the push-up shot in the pasta It's hard to understand because the verse seems to say that he gave her a very small amount then the magic gets into this and I'm not going to get into it so much I'm not going to actually even read it inside but what we see is there's a concept that there's a blessing there's there's an opinion here that says that he only gave her a small amount but there was a blessing that occurred when she ate it she fell full even though it was a small amount to the point where there is even extra what is the concept here he gave her a small amount is that considered a kindness is it a great kindness to give somebody who needs a lot to give them a little the measure seems to be saying something much deeper here and perhaps we'll just uh mention it for a little short moment what is the point here the magic on this on this particular point it seems to me that the message is saying that let's say I give what I can give let's say I can't give a lot Boaz was a wealthy man so I'm just saying that this is a possible understanding what the measure is trying to teach Boaz gave a small amount but that smaller one was Miss boric bemayoff which means that there was a blessing on it there's a blessing on it a blessing comes what is the concept of a blessing it means that there is a special recognition that is from Hashem wherever you have godliness you have a greater amount of fullness you have everything that you need in a place where you sense Hashem you have everything that you need even if it's a small amount or it seems to be a small amount you have everything that you need so the magic actually says later on at the very end this is a longer piece I'm not going to read the whole thing but metric actually says in the end that ruus did more for Boaz than Boaz did for us which means that when a person gives to DACA so they have a greater advantage in a certain sense even though they're doing something for the poor person the poor person seems to be getting the money right but the the person who gave the charity he himself becomes expanded through his giving it's a it's a paradox I give away money but I become expanded Boaz gives a small amount to Russ and there's an expansion the small amount that he gives her is more than she needs it ends up being more than she needs there's an expansion that occurs on the part really really both sides on the part of the one who receives it and also the part of the one who gives it so it's this very interesting lesson over here right obviously we've been saying the whole time calboheimer's certainly if you give to someone who needs certainly you're going to be rewarded here we're seeing that in the in the story of Boaz and Russ he is rewarded number one in the simple sense as a before she explained in in the in the money aspect of it he's rewarded that blessings come to him to his grain because he gave that grain to somebody who needed it blessings are apparent on the green itself even though it's a small amount that it filled her up and made her feel full and there was extra even though it was a small amount to begin with and another aspect which isn't really mentioned here is that his very giving to Russ ended up being that he would marry her and they were only together for a very short time he married her and he died the next day um as our hazal tell us but he had a child and that child would end up being the grandfather he ended up as the great grandfather of King David so this kindness that he did for her had a boomerang effect for him and the message is teaching us that every time we do a kindness for somebody else it it affects us that's really the essence now let's let's think about this right let's let's see that that that mishpat that statement when I do a kind of somebody else I'm the one who benefits from it is really the explanation of all for all the questions that we asked we said why is it that Avril Novena is rewarded why is he rewarded for for doing something that they didn't need now if we just see kindness as something you know you do something that they need so it's about helping another person so then that's one aspect of it and that's true but there's another aspect of it that when I do a kindness when I give charity when I do a favor for somebody else I bring somebody into my house I feed them you know in arts Israel we have opportunities to do that we have uh bacharim and we have uh young young women who are studying in Israel do they really need our food do they really need us they could stay in their school they could stand in your Shiva but there's a Indian of kindness because what is the idea it changes me that's the essence of it there's a blessing that's found in my life I have brought godliness into my life rashem didn't need to create the world he didn't need to create us he was perfect before his perfect after right but still he wanted to create a world and he does kindness for free even though it's not needed even though it's not necessary so when we do kindness even if it's not needed it's also we are also emulating Hashem we are bringing godliness into our world and we become expanded through it so even if it turns out afterwards that the kindness wasn't needed but I did an action of goodness I did a Godly act I became higher and greater because of it and not only that we asked oh so so before we get to the other question so let's look also why was it so terrible that I'm in a moth didn't do Derek Heritage I didn't do common they didn't have common decency to give the Wayfarers some bread and drink it's a big husarin it's a terrible lack in a person if they don't have a desire to give if they don't take every opportunity to give even if it's not needed but I should still offer why because God is always giving God is constantly giving whenever I make an offer to give even if it's not needed I become more Godly and when someone doesn't make that offer when the aminoa people didn't make that offer they became disconnected from Hashem they became disconnected and they and their grandchildren notice what brings us back to the other question but they're punished and their children and grandchildren great-grandchildren the man cannot enter into the Jewish people they can convert but they can't marry they can't marry the rest of the Jewish people now why why can't their children and why do the children of avram and the children of Israel why are they rewarded yes sir also he was doing kind of someone who who didn't need the who he owed the kindness to right but still when you do a kindness even if you're oh you owe the kindness you become a greater person through that the very fact that you're doing kindness makes you Godly even if you owe the kindness that's the message here and it changes you and it changes your children and it changes your grandchildren the Jewish people have been transformed because of the kindness of avram avinu when we do kindness it infuses into our DNA a different type of DNA we are different people we come from avram avinu we are those who are kind of we have three attributes uh I forgot the first one is one of them we do kindnesses why because we have that spiritual DNA yisro had it inside of him as well he also did that kindness which is why he merited that his daughter would become part of the Jewish people be Mary Moshe rabbin who knows an incredible Swiss what a merit but he had it and therefore his great great grandchildren were rewarded they didn't need to be destroyed they weren't denied and to this day the Jews they have a tradition that they can convert at the age I think of 50. to to Judaism they're welcome they're welcome to join us why because they have yusuo's children his grandchildren his great-grandchildren have the Meda of kindness I'm gonna move are lacking at me though of kindness they don't have that and how is it expressed and what is the reward Hashem gives them drink and food and protection and all that they need the reward is all-encompassing why and another God's presence is there why because when we are doing kindness we are living with God in our lives we are infused with the blessings that Boaz had and that Russ had which is ultimately what who are they the great grandparents of who is he the great grandparents of the Messiah because the Messiah the Messianic age is all about the revelation of Hashem in the world so that's what we're after it's an incredible lesson and it's incredible deep truth when we involve ourselves in kindness whether it's charity or whether it's just simply being nice to other people smiling at other people giving people a hand when they need a hand whether they need it or not when we are involved in kindness so we are transformed we become different people we become worthy of the title of the children's of Abraham the children of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and we Merit to be connected also to Boaz and to Russ and to the concept of mashiach I want to bless you I ask you excuse me to bless me as well Hashem should help us that we should be able to incorporate this idea we should be able to recognize the importance of doing kindness for others for those around us and take all the opportunities whether it seems like it's really needed or not take all the opportunities that we can to become greater people more infused with godliness in our lives thank you so much for listening have a wonderful Shabbos this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.regoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag [Music]