The Kindness of Love and Godliness
Bein Adam Le-Chavero: Ethics of Interpersonal Conduct
By Rav
Binyamin Zimmerman
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This shiur is dedicated in
memory of Israel Koschitzky zt"l,
whose yahrzeit falls on the 19th of Kislev.
May the world-wide dissemination of Torah through the VBM
be a fitting tribute to a man whose lifetime achievements
exemplified the love of Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.
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Shiur #07: The Kindness of Love and Godliness
A Third Aspect to Jewish Morality
In our previous lessons, we developed the concepts
of universal morality expressive of mans tzelem Elokim and the
unique Jewish disposition towards chesed.
We also saw that God deems fit to add commands of action in the ethical
realm. These commands have a dual
nature. The commandment itself
transforms the ethical action into a divine dictate, a mitzva bein adam
la-Makom, where proper intent is essential.
However, this command also has the uniqueness of mitzvot bein
adam la-chavero in its focus on the results: how does ones friend feel as a
result of ones action?
There are many types of acts of kindness, however,
that are not mentioned explicitly in the Torah.
For instance, visiting the sick, comforting the mourner and healing the
injured are not expressly commanded in any particular biblical verse; does this
mean that there is no obligation to perform them?
It is generally assumed that the Torah promotes all benevolent actions
with a commandment. Beyond mans
moral urges, God dictates that people act kindly with each other, whatever
situation may arise. The question,
however, remains: what is the biblical source for this instruction?
The source of an obligation is essential, for it
helps us to understand the nature of the obligation. An analysis of the possible sources
for this obligation seem to present a much broader scope for mitzvot bein
adam le-chavero; we may discover a third element, the recognition and
understanding of which is essential for one who wants to live by the divine code
of ethics.
The Source of the Obligation of Gemilut Chasadim
Every morning, after reciting the blessing over the
Torah, we recite the first mishna in Tractate Peia, which lists those
praiseworthy actions which have no quantitative limit. The penultimate entry is gemilut
chasadim, doing acts of kindness.
While it is obviously of great importance, the commentators differ as to
the exact source of the obligation.
At first glance, the Talmud seems to bring an
explicit source for the obligation.
When Yitro urges Moshe to appoint judges, he tells Moshe what he should teach
them, And you shall make known to them the way that they shall go in it (Shemot
18:20). The Talmud explains:
Rav Yosef taught: And you shall make known to
them refers to their livelihood; the way refers to gemilut chasadim;
that they shall go refers to vesting the sick; in it refers to burial
(Bava
Metzia 30b)
Though this verse seems to be explicitly expounded
as referring to acts of loving-kindness, many commentators maintain that
the obligation must be based on another verse.
They apparently see the Talmuds explanation as a mere asmakhta, a
homily without the force of a biblical mitzva; alternatively, they view Yitros
advice as encouragement to follow the proper path of kindness, without a
specific obligation to do so. In its
place, these commentators offer two general requirements which may subsume
obligations towards general acts of kindness: "You shall love your fellow as
yourself" (Vayikra 19:18), and "Follow Lord your God" (Devarim
13:5). These commentators also bring
sources to back their claims. An
analysis of the Rambams usage of these two verses will help us better
understand the unique nature of Jewish kindness.
The Two Verses
The Rambam (Hilkhot Avel 14:1) seems to bring the verse Ve-ahavta
le-reiakha kamokha, You shall love your fellow as yourself, as the source
for performing acts of chesed. There, the Rambam writes: "It is a
positive rabbinical mitzva to visit the sick and to comfort mourners... Even though all of these mitzvot
are rabbinical, they are included in 'You shall love your fellow as yourself.'"
The Rambam elsewhere seems to present a different
source for requiring ethical conduct.
Understanding the Rambams need for two sources will reveal his unique
understanding of the depth of ones interpersonal obligations and offer us a
model for the proper fulfillment of these obligations.
The Rambam, near the beginning of his magnum opus,
Mishneh Torah, explains the parameters of both the mitzvot
mentioned earlier. In Hilkhot
Deot 6:3 he details the mitzva of Ve-ahavta as a more general
obligation of loving ones fellows by praising them publicly and being careful
not to cause them monetary loss or embarrassment.
Each man is commanded to love each and every one of
Israel as himself, as it is stated: You shall love your fellow as yourself. Therefore, one should speak the
praises of others and show concern for their money, just as he is concerned with
his own money and desires his own honor
While the Rambam in his comments in Hilkhot Avel
seemed to attach to the mitzva of Ve-ahavta a general obligation for
performing kindness, in Hilkhot De'ot, he seems to limit the
obligation to more specific requirements.
Why does the Rambam, who is legendarily systematic, choose to mention the
obligation of loving ones friend in two different contexts with diverse
meanings?
What further compounds the difficulty is that the
Rambam in Hilkhot De'ot seems to bring an alternate source for the
obligation of beneficence. In the
first chapter of Hilkhot De'ot, the Rambam discusses the biblical
obligation of following Gods ways, and in his description, he seems to
understand it as the source of the obligation to do chesed. Why would the Rambam attach the
mitzva of chesed to two distinct verses?
One gets the distinct impression that the Rambam is trying to reveal the
dual nature of the obligation of performing acts of loving-kindness. An analysis of the mitzva of
following the ways of God will help us disclose the hidden depths of this
obligation.
Following the Ways of God
In a number of places, the Torah uses similar but
differing formulations indicating Gods desire that the Jewish people follow
His ways. The Rambam (ibid. 1:5)
focuses his conclusions regarding this obligation on the following verse (Devarim
28:9): "God will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you
will keep the commandments of Lord your God and you will follow His ways (ve-halakhta
bi-drakhav)." However, similar
terminology is used in a number of other places in the Book of Devarim
(see 8:6, 10:12, 11:22, 13:5, 26:17 and 30:16.)
The intent of the verses is very unclear and
puzzling. As the Talmud puts it (Sota 14a), Is it possible for a human
to follow the Divine Presence? How can a
mortal human being attempt to act as the Perfect and Wholly Other does?
What does it mean to follow the ways of God? The Sages of the Midrash and Talmud
themselves ask this question and explain at least three of these verses as a
call to emulate God in one manner or another.
Sometimes, the Sages seem to focus on an obligation to emulate Gods
actions; at other times, they speak of emulating His characteristics.
The Talmud (loc. cit.), commenting on the verse
Follow Lord your God, fear Him, keep His commandments and obey His voice; and
you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him (Devarim 13:5), understands the
obligation of following God as an injunction to perform benevolent actions,
emulating Gods acts of loving-kindness.
R. Chamma b. R. Chanina said: What is the meaning
of the verse, Follow Lord your God? Is it possible for a human to follow the
Divine Presence? Is it not written,
Lord your God is a devouring fire (ibid. 4:24)?
Rather, emulate His actions.
Just as He clothes the naked, as is written, Lord
God made for Adam and his wife coats of skins and clothed them (Bereishit
4:21), so you too clothe the naked.
God visits the sick
so you too visit the sick.
God comforts the mourner
so you too comfort the
mourner.
God buries the dead
so you too bury the dead.
While this Talmudic statement focuses on emulating
Gods actions, (clothing the naked, visiting the sick, etc.,) elsewhere, Abba
Shaul explains a different verse (Shemot 15:2) as a directive to emulate
Divine attributes: This is my God, ve-anvehu literally, and I will
beautify Him.
Abba Shaul states: Ve-anvehu be like
Him! Just as he is gracious and compassionate, you shall be gracious and
compassionate. (Shabbat 133b)
Similarly, but with a slight variation, the Sifrei
derives the obligation to emulate the Divine attributes of graciousness,
compassion and the like from a verse instructing us to follow all His ways (Devarim
11:22).
Just as He is called merciful, so should you be
merciful; just as He is called gracious, so should you be gracious... just as
He is called righteous, so should you be righteous... just as He is called
pious, so should you be pious. (Ekev
49)
Here the Sifrei focuses on the fact that God is referred to as gracious
and righteous; we, His followers, must therefore emulate those characteristics.
These various understandings constitute the biblical
obligation of emulating God in Latin, Imitatio dei. This idea appears
in seemingly lesser forms in other instances, in explicit verses which instruct
us to model our behavior after God.
We rest on the Sabbath as He did (Shemot 20:11), and the major command to
be holy is formulated in the Torah as You shall be holy because I, Lord your
God, am holy (Vayikra 19:1). Additionally, we are told, For Lord your
God... loves the stranger, providing him with food and clothing.
And you too must love the stranger, for
you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Devarim 10:17-19).
However, even after the various rabbinic explications of the requirement
to follow the ways of God, the obligation is unclear. What exactly does this
obligation entail? Many of the early
enumerators of the 613 mitzvot do not count it; others, such as the
Yereim, understood is as a mitzva: a general positive directive to keep all of
the commandments (Sefer Yereim 261).
The Rambam, however, understands that these verses do not merely express
a broad requirement; they represent the foundation of Jewish morality.
The Rambams Unique Understanding
The Rambam bases his understanding of the obligation
primarily, as we mentioned above, on one somewhat abstruse verse (Devarim
28:9): "God will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you
will keep the commandments of Lord your God and you will follow His ways.
The verse states what would seem to
be a promise, a prediction. This
verse is especially difficult to understand as a commandment to emulate God
because it is phrased as a conditional statement and not a command.
It would seem to be, if anything, more of
a general guideline than a specific command.
(The Rambams son, Rav Avraham, is aware of these difficulties in his
fathers approach, and he deals with them in his Responsa, # 63.)
This specific verse receives little attention in
Midrashic sources, save for one mention, in which it seems to be understood as a
promise of beneficence towards one who emulates Gods values system. The Talmudic and Midrashic
explorations of the obligation to follow Gods ways quote other verses which
seem to express the idea in the form of a command. Why does the Rambam focus on a verse
that seems not to be a mitzva at all?
Tanna De-vei Eliyahu Rabba (24) is the Midrash which expounds this specific
verse.
"God will establish you as His holy people, as He
swore to you, if you will keep the commandments of Lord your God and you will
follow His ways" in the ways of Heaven. Just as the ways of Heaven are being
merciful and compassionate toward the wicked and accepting them in repentance,
you are to be compassionate toward one another.
Just as the ways of Heaven are to be gracious, bestowing gifts gratis not
only upon those who know Him but also upon those who do not know Him, so you are
to bestow gifts upon one another
Just as the ways of Heaven are abundant in
loving-kindness, ever inclining toward loving-kindness, so are you ever to
incline toward doing good to others, rather than inclining toward doing them
harm.
Here, the Midrash expounds upon emulating the
attributes of God, with a focus on the actions that logically extend from these
attributes. A look at how the Rambam
cites the obligation is very telling.
In Sefer Ha-mitzvot he writes:
The eighth positive commandment is to emulate the
Blessed One as far as we are able, as it is written (Devarim 28:9), And
you will follow his ways, and it is repeated (ibid. 11:22), to follow all His
ways. Our Sages explain (Sifrei ad loc.) Just as He is called
merciful, so should you be merciful; just as He is called gracious, so
should you be gracious...
This commandment is also repeated somewhat
differently (ibid. 13:5) Follow Lord your God.
This, too, is explained (Sota 14a) as emulating the good deeds
and noble traits ascribed to the Blessed One figuratively speaking, as He is
transcendentally exalted above all things.
The Rambam begins with Devarim 28:9, focusing
on the idea of emulating Gods attributes, but he includes all of the other
verses as well, beginning with the Sifreis emphasis on what God is called and
concluding with the Talmuds directive to emulate Gods noble deeds and traits.
With this background, we are finally able to return to the Rambams
comments in Mishneh Torah, in Hilkhot De'ot (1:4-6). It is there that the Rambam cites
only Devarim 28:9, and goes so far as basing his entire system of ethics
on this principle. According to his reading, the "way" in which we are supposed
to walk is the middle path:
The right way involves discovering the midpoint
temperament of each and every trait that man possesses [within his personality],
namely, that disposition which is equally distant from the two extremes...
This is the way of the wise. Every man whose traits are
intermediate and equally balanced can be called a wise man
We are bidden
to follow the middle paths, which are the right and proper ways, as it is
written, And you will follow His ways.
Our Sages taught the following explanation of this
mitzva. Just as He is called merciful, so should you be merciful; just as He
is called gracious, so should you be gracious.
Just as He is called holy, you shall be holy. In a similar manner, the Prophets
call God by other titles: slow to anger, abundant in kindness, righteous,
just, perfect
to inform us that these are good and just paths. A person is obligated to accustom
himself to these paths and to emulate Him to the extent of his ability.
The Rambam here adds to the list of attributes the
trait of holiness, and he provides a rule of thumb. God acts in ways which we identify
with these qualities, and the Torah and the Prophets mention these actions
because they are attributes which man should strive to achieve. The Rambam continues in the rest of
the chapter to delineate how one can inculcate these behaviors, and explains
This is the heritage which our Patriarch Avraham taught his descendants, as it
is stated (Bereishit 18:19): For I have known him to the end that he may
command [his children and his household after him to keep the way of God, to do
righteousness and justice].
Essentially the Rambam is informing us that
derekh Hashem, the way of God which the forefathers walked in, is emulating
the divine attributes to the point of being able to model ones behavior after
Gods actions. The focus is not only
on actions, but on cultivating virtuous dispositions. It may be that for this exact reason
the Rambam focuses on the verse which is a promise and not a command: the ideal
of modeling ourselves after Gods holiness is born of true emulation,
transforming our being. God does not
act because of commands; He acts because He is good. God is called such, but
man, created in His image, can become such.
The Rambam, besides enlarging the obligation of
beneficence to include a pleasant disposition, is seemingly expressing his
deep-seated belief in the proper mindset of man.
Human behavior should not be motivated by the spontaneous expression of
feelings of warmth. Rather, mans emotions should arise as the result of a
deliberate process of thought.
Imitation of God requires that a person not be controlled by the unchecked
expression of his emotions. Rather one should control ones feelings; motivated
by ones desire to resemble God, one should seek to find the correct and proper
quality, the middle path, appropriate to the situation as hand. By doing so, the Rambam transforms Ve-halakhta
bi-drakhav into the ultimate yardstick for determining the appropriate
gemilut chasadim for each case.
The Extents of Emulation
We have seen that the Rambams approach to emulating
God is to develop a virtuous disposition which leads to explicit action.
This is a central theme of Judaism with
far-reaching applications. It is no
surprise that gemilut chasadim features prominent in our daily prayers:
in the central Amida prayer, God is addresses as gomel chasadim
tovim, the Doer of good acts of kindness.
However, this idea goes further.
We may find an example of the extent of the obligation of gemilut
chasadim incumbent upon us in the works of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, at the
beginning of his Tomer Devora. He describes how God acts with
loving-kindness even towards someone who, at that very moment, is sinning
against Him:
There is never a moment that a person is not
sustained by a heavenly force that fills him. You will find that there is never
a time that a person sins against God, while, at that very same moment, He is
not filling him with life force. Even though that person is using that force for
sin, He does not withhold it from him. Rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He,
suffers the insult and fills the person with life force, even though the person
is expending that force, at that very moment, on sin and transgression, causing
the Holy One, Blessed be He, to become angry and to suffer
This is an ineffable
example of insult and tolerance.
Man is called
upon to follow the ways of God with regard to this trait as well:
This is a trait that man must adopt for himself I
mean to say, tolerance. Even when one suffers insult to a great degree, one
should not withhold goodness from the recipient.
Many years later, Rav Soloveitchik, working off the
teachings of the Rambam and the Midrash, expanded the imperative to follow the
ways of God to include creativity and many other elements of godliness.
The Rambams Need for Two Verses
With this in mind, let us revisit the question we began with, as to the
source of the biblical obligation of gemilut chasadim toward ones
fellow. We pointed out that the
Rambam seems to bring two different sources for this obligation. However, a careful look at the
sources seems to explain the distinction and the need for both.
It is a positive rabbinical mitzva to visit the sick
and to comfort mourners, to take out the deceased, to bring in the bride, to
escort guests, and to take care of all matters at a funeral to carry the
coffin, to walk before it, to eulogize, to dig and to bury and also to gladden
a bride and groom and to provide for them all their needs. These are the acts of
chesed done bodily which have no limit. Even though all of these
mitzvot are rabbinical, they are included in You shall love your fellow as
yourself everything you wish others to do for you, you should do for your
brother in Torah and mitzvot. (Hilkhot
Avel 14:1)
Here the Rambam points out that there are rabbinic
requirements of specific actions, rooted in the Divine imperative of loving
ones fellow, Ve-ahavta la-reiakha kamokha. Though the Torah is not specific as
to how to be kind to ones fellow Jew, the Sages have edified us. However, it is all rooted in the
biblical mandate to love ones fellow, which the Rambam interprets thusly: You
shall love your fellow as yourself everything you wish others to do for you,
you should do for your brother in Torah and mitzvot."
What is very explicit here is that the Rambam
understands (for reasons that will be discussed in an upcoming lesson) that
loving ones fellow is accomplished through action. Acts of love and kindness performed
for ones friend are the obligation and the way in which one expresses love. This obligation is explicit in
Hilkhot Avel, where the Rambam is describing acts of loving-kindness.
The obligation of following the ways of God is very
different. True, the ultimate result
is action; however, the focus is not doing, but becoming. As we explained above, the Rambam, in
Hilkhot De'ot, is writing about the mindset and character a person should
have. The Rambam introduces us to
gemilut chasadim as part of the gestalt of a Jews approach to godliness. Man, created be-tzelem Elokim,
must live his life following in the footsteps of God, developing the virtuous
qualities which we identify as His actions, building this godlike character
which leads to beneficent action.
The Rambams need for two sources in two distinct
places in Mishneh Torah now becomes very clear. The two sources express two unique
elements. As we noted in the
previous lesson, actions of love, that which we would want to be done to
ourselves, are part of the uniqueness of the results-oriented mitzvot bein
adam le-chavero. It is these
mitzvot that are distinguished from the common mitzvot bein adam
la-Makom, which focus on intent.
However, the Rambams citation in Hilkhot Deot of Ve-halakhta
bi-drakhav conveys a distinctive aspect.
The focus of Imitatio Dei is not the action or the result, but the
beneficence expressed as part of ones being, because that is the sort of person
that one has become.
Distinguishing between actions based on whether the
obligation is interpersonal or ritual really only tells two-thirds of the story. There is a third type of commandment,
as we will see in the next lesson, which is referred to by the Gra as mitzvot
bein adam le-atzmo, commandments between man and himself. This term refers to the category of
obligations which essentially delineate how one may become what one could be and
should be.
The Three Parts of Mitzvot Bein Adam Le-chavero:
Gemilut chasadim is so fundamental (see the first lesson in this
series) because it combines all three elements of divine commands as is true
of interpersonal mitzvot in general.
Firstly, though many are rational, the Divine command represents a
mitzva bein adam la-Makom, a ritual obligation in which ones intent is
important. Secondly, the mitzvot
bein adam le-chavero are uniquely focused on results (see the previous
lesson): has ones friend benefited from the act, or has ones friend, on the
contrary, been hurt? This obligation extends from the results-focused mitzva
You shall love your fellow as yourself.
Thirdly, being kind is not only about intending to fulfill Gods will or
helping ones friend; it is also about developing oneself be-tzelem Elokim.
One may thereby achieve what one is
capable of and has been created to be. Thus,
a mitzva bein adam le-atzmo is the fulfillment of You will walk in His
ways. The Torah does not want actions devoid of emotion; it seeks to shape
ones personality. It wants man to
become godlike. Deed is not
necessarily reflective of character; a person with many severe character faults
may still do good deeds. One may be
said to emulate God only when one goes beyond merely performing positive deeds,
undergoing an internal change, developing ones character.
In the next lesson, I hope to further develop the concepts of mitzvot
bein adam le-atzmo, and we will deal with the proper balance of the three
elements of interpersonal obligations.
As a little note, I hope that learning about the different elements of
interpersonal mitzvot for the past month-and-a-half has started to
express itself, even slightly, in our intentions and actions. The next step is to allow this study
to transform our character and personality as well.
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