Vayeira 5785: The Most Powerful Kapparah

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Shiur given in 5778

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Man Was Created Only to Help Others

וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרׇץ לִקְרָאתָם מִפֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָרְצָה…וְאֶקְחָה פַת לֶחֶם וְסַעֲדוּ לִבְּכֶם אַחַר תַּעֲבֹרוּ כִּי עַל כֵּן עֲבַרְתֶּם עַל עַבְדְּכֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ כֵּן תַּעֲשֶׂה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְ

“And [Avraham] lifted his eyes up and he saw, behold, three men standing near him. Perceiving this, he ran to greet them from the entrance of the tent, bowing to the ground…’And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves; then go on — seeing that you have come your servant’s way.’ They replied, ‘Do as you have said.’” (Bereishis 18: 2,5). 

We recently spoke about the chashivus and chiyuv of chessed. But the problem is you can talk and talk, and for some reason, very few people actually fulfill this chiyuv, which Rabeinu Yonah calls min hachamuros, from the stringent mitzvos. Rav Chaim Volozhin’s son, Rav Itzele, writes in the hakdamah to Nefesh Hachaim about his father: וכה היה דברו אלי תמיד, My father constantly spoke to me and gave the following message.^[i]

Now, if someone would ask you what you think the constant message of Rav Chaim Volozhiner (1749-1821) was, what would you say? Rav Chaim was the talmid muvhak of the Gr”a and the meyased, the founder, of the great Volozhiner Yeshivah. He was a walking, talking Sefer Torah. A living Sefer Torah. So what would you think the constant message to his son would be? The logical, rational message would be Torah, Torah, and more Torah. That’s what you would have thought if you wanted to give a rational answer and not something out of the blue. But that wasn’t what he said. And don’t think that his son wasn’t a talmid chacham. Rav Itzele Volozhiner (1780-1849) became the rosh yeshivah of Volozhin. He was his father’s heir. His father told him constantly, שזה כל האדם – you want to know what the entire adam is about? לא לעצמו נברא, a man was not created for himself, but רק להועיל לאחריני, only to help others. Can you imagine that? It’s mind-boggling! How much? ככל אשר ימצא בכוחו לעשות, as much as a person finds within his koach to do. This is one of the most mind-boggling statements!

Now, I would understand if the head of the Hatzalah or some chessed organization said that. But Rav Chaim Volozhiner said that?! Wow! You’re not created for yourself. You were created להועיל לאחריני. Not to help yourself as much as your koach enables you. Most people invest most of their energy in benefiting themselves. But Rav Chaim Volozhiner constantly told his son the opposite. You were created for one thing: only to help others. It’s massive.

Now, the question is if you look in the sefer Nefesh Hachaim you’ll see that it’s not a sefer on chessed. It’s a sefer about avodah, tefilah, Torah. But the emes is Rav Chaim Volozhiner asks (Likutei Ma’amorim, Ma’mar Zain): what is the greatest chessed possible that makes all other chessed like nothing? That’s a very strong language. He says the gemara says that the talmidei chachamim, the tzaddikim, lived on very, very little. For themselves, they took extremely little and Hashem fed the whole world in their zechus. Because they learned Torah, Hashem was זן ומפרנס כל העולם. The gemara (Brochos 17a) singles out one unique rav, R’ Chanina ben Dosa. Hashem calls him “Chanina b’ni.” כל העולם כולו ניזון בשביל חנינא בני, the whole world is sustained in the merit of Chanina b’ni, וחנינא בני די לו בקב חרובים מערב שבת לערב שבת, for himself he took nothing, a pittance!^[ii]

Rav Chaim Volozhiner says a peledige zach: for tzaddikim, the more they would take for themselves, the less they would be able to be mezakeh others. The gemara (Ta’anis 25a) says, at one point, Rav Chanina was mamash desperate for some money, so he davened to Hashem, and a hand came out from shamayim and gave him a piece of gold. He won the lottery. Hashem gave him gold, straight from Hashem! Then he gave it back. You know why? Because he had a dream that in the next world he’s sitting at a table missing a leg. Rav Chaim said, what’s pshat? He says because when he took that golden leg for himself, he was now diminishing the chessed he did with the whole world. And the less he took for himself, the more shefah there was available for the world. Rav Chaim Volozhiner says that particular chessed of learning Torah makes every other chessed like gornisht because he’s זן ומפרנס כל העולם כולו (see footnote #2 for more context).

Torah Provides the Biggest Chessed to Others

Now you understand what the gemara in Sanhedrin says. That gemara (Sanhedrin 99b) says, what [is one of the things that] makes a person an apikores for which he loses his chelek in olam haba?^[iii] Here is a kollel yungerman, a tzaddik. He learns Torah all day. He’s לומד תורה מתוך הדחק for the emes. And what happens? What happens is somebody comes over and says, “What good, what benefit do I have from this guy? He sits there by himself, and he learns for himself. He’s becoming a great man. What benefit do I have from that?!” You know what the gemara says? That he’s an apikores and has no chelek in olam haba! Now, you may ask: “Isn’t that an extreme label and a punishment?! Maybe the person doesn’t understand. He doesn’t chap the koach haTorah.” You know what Rashi says? You know why he’s such a terrible person? Because this talmid chacham who is sitting and learning is the source of this guy’s parnasah. Whatever this guy has, he has from that talmid chacham who is sitting and learning bedochek. That’s a chutzpah she’ein kamoso. You’re belittling the hand that feeds you?! Do you know what that means? It’s mavhil al hara’ayon. The chessed that somebody does to the world through Torah, especially if he’s לומד תורה מתוך הדחק, is unbelievable!

The Chafetz Chaim was once at a meeting. Balebatim were building a hospital. So they were deciding how many beds each gvir was going to donate. Some could donate one bed, some two beds. Suddenly, a yeshivah man, a ben Torah came. He wanted to speak to the Chafetz Chaim. The Chafetz Chaim said, “Rabosai, wait a minute. I want to talk to this ben Torah.” The Chafetz Chaim went out and spoke to him. He came back and they were all upset. They said, “We don’t understand. We came for a very important meeting. Our time is very valuable. We’re here to build a hospital. What is this guy going to do for the world?” Chafetz Chaim said, “That guy donated fifty beds.” What!? Fifty beds! Not one of these guys came close to fifty beds. Chafetz Chaim explained what he meant. He said that from his Torah, fifty beds are empty. We need fifty beds less. Because of you guys, we need fifty more beds. You’ve got to pay for the beds because you make the people sick. You’ve got to cover the cost of your damage.

That’s what a person has to know. Today we want to share with you an idea, so you  can ingrain it in yourself, namely, that the benefits of a person doing chessed are such that you can’t imagine it! If you look in Sha’arei Teshuvah,Rabbeinu Yonah writes in two places about chessed (1:47, 3:13): one as a general mitzvah min hachamuros, from the most chashuve mitzvos around, and also as one of the principles of teshuvah. A person who did a cheit and is engaging in teshuvah, that person also has to do chessed.^[iv]

However, there is chiluk between the two. Teshuvah affords a person a certain level of kapparah. A person who did an aveirah needs kapparah. Rabosai, don’t convince yourself otherwise for one second. For every single cheit you’re going to pay like a tattele. Hashem is going to smile at you, but you’ve got to pay because you’ve got to pay for any charge you make on the ‘credit card.’ That’s just how the rule goes. You charged the card? You’ve got to pay the debt. Unless somebody else stole your card and charged it. Then you get a refund, if you can prove it. Hashem says there’s one way to get out of it (in combination with teshuva): do chessed.

Chessed Brings Kapparah

Now a regular person doesn’t have to go out and chase chessed. If chessed comes to you, then Rabeinu Yonah says you’ve got to do it diligently. You’ve got to be amal. You have to toil. You have to put forth your maximum extreme effort. But you don’t have to go around the street looking for chessed until it comes your way. But if you want to get kapparah, in addition to doing teshuvah, you have to run after chessed.

In the Avos DeRav Nosson (4:5) it says one time Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking outside of Yerushalayim and Rabi Yehoshua was walking behind him and they saw the place where the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed. So Rabi Yehoshua said, “Oy vey, it was destroyed. This was a place where Klal Yisrael got their kapparah.” אמר לו, He said to him, בני אל ירע לך, don’t feel bad. יש לנו כפרה אחת שהיא כמותה, we have another kapparah that’s like it. What is that? זה גמילות חסדים שנאמר כי חסד חפצתי ולא זבח.^[v]

People are always looking for kapparos. There’s no way out. You’ve got to have a kapparah. You did a cheit? You have to have kapparah, Rabosai. Whether you’re young, whether you’re old, you did a cheit you have to be cleaned. You can do teshuvah and you’re a tzaddik gamur but kapparah is something else, especially for serious aveiros. Do you know what the best kapparah is? Gemilus chassadim.

Choose Your Kapparah: Go Collecting

It’s very difficult to put your hand out and go over to somebody and say: can you please help me? I’m raising money for a talmid chacham or for an important inyan. It’s embarrassing to do that. It’s humiliating. But if you do that, Rabosai, you’re going to come to the next world and you’re going to say, “Wow!” Your credit card is going to be knocked down. You may have not done a cheit in twenty or thirty years but for every cheit you did before that, you’re going to pay like a tattele. But if you did gemilus chasadim, you’re going to have kapparah. Every single one of you, whoever is hearing this, should undertake to commit to save himself and his family by doing chessed. There is nothing like chessed. Zilch! You’re embarrassed. Your family doesn’t like it. Forget all the shtusim. Save your soul. Save yourself. You should become synonymous as the chessed collectors. You should be the ones known as doing chessed. Every bein hazmanim you should do it, if you’re wise. This is the best piece of advice I can help you with because there’s no other way that you’re going to be zocheh to kapparah; otherwise, you’ve got to endure yesurim. Do you know how much yesurim there is in the world today? Boatloads. You know why? Kapparah. It’s a lot easier to humiliate yourself in this fashion than to have people daven for you in every shul and put your name out and hope you get better. It’s not pashut. But if you went out and ran around collecting, you would have an atonement and it will protect you from yesurim.

I just met a yungerman in Lakewood. I was there a couple of weeks ago. One special guy, a fellow who’s at every chasunah. He has a stack of bills in his hand, singles, and he stands collecting for aniyim. After years and years of watching the guy, I went over to him and said, “What’s the story with you? Who do you collect for yourself?” No, he collects for yungeleit in Lakewood. I said, “Are you kidding? How often do you do it?” “Whenever there’s a chasunah.”I said, “In Lakewood, it’s every night.” He said, “I come every night.” It’s mind-boggling. I told the guy at a later time, “I want you to know I spoke about you. You’re a very wise man. You don’t have humiliation. If you do, I want you to know I have the greatest respect for you. You’re a very wise man, and what you’re doing is unreal.” Everybody else is a tremendous mechutzaf but no one would do that to collect money. You know why? Because they are not zocheh to kapparah.

You know how easy it is? If a person is sick, you know what the simplest thing to do is? Make a few phone calls. Write a couple of letters to some friends and say, “Listen. I’m going through some suffering right now and I’m trying to alleviate my yesurim. Could you help me? I need a zechus. I’m trying to do chessed for somebody else. Maybe you’ll do me a chessed.” You know what kind of easy thing that is? It’s easy as pie. It doesn’t say you have to actually raise the money. You’re doing the chessed. You’re going out to do chessed for people. That’s tremendous.

Collecting Will Open Gates of Rachamim for You

The Vilna Gaon writes in the sefer Avnei Eliyahu on the siddur Ishei Yisrael that there’s a gate in every person’s heart. That gate is called sha’ar harachamim. That’s what it is. Now, usually when you open a door or gate, it either leads you out of somewhere or to somewhere. That sha’ar harachamim that Hashem puts in our hearts, if you open the sha’ar harachamim what does it do? Does it get you out of somewhere or does it get you into somewhere? You know what he says? When you open this gate and walk through this door, a sha’ar harachamim opens up in shamayim on the other side, and now Hashem sends down rachamim to you. Do you know what that means? That’s mind-boggling stuff. It’s amazing. You buy yourself cheap rachamim. Do you know what it is to sit laid up in bed? Do you know what it is to go to hospitals? You should never know, but if you don’t do anything about it, you’re not giving yourself a good chance to get rachamim. I tell people: “Open up. Open yourself up to rachamim. You need parnasah? Open for yourself sha’ar rachamim.” You live in Lakewood or wherever you live, go collect a couple dollars. Don’t stop. Buy yourself cheap rachamim. The most somebody is going to tell you is, “I can’t help you right now.” People might ask you why you are doing this. You don’t look like a meshulach type. You say, “You’re right. I’m not. But I’m going through something now, and I need a zechus.” If somebody came to you and told you that, how would you feel? Would you say, “Get out of here, I don’t want to help you.” Of course not. You’d say, “I feel bad that you need a zechus. Let me give you a couple of bucks.” Do you know what that is? It’s unreal!

Torah and Chessed Can Rip Up a Gzar Din

The gemara says in Rosh Hashanah (18a) a peledike zach, that there are some types of gzar dins from shamayim that Hashem gives you with a shevuah, and those things can’t be torn up.^[vi] If you get such a gezar din on you, you’re basically finished. But the gemara says there’s one way of getting out of it. You know how? Torah and chessed. The gemara says there was such a gzar din on Beis Eili. Eili was a kohen gadol, but he had children who were mevazeh the korbanos. They let rich guys get in line first. They said to the poor guy, “You go to the back of the line.” And they acted like the korbanos was their business. Hashem gave such a shevuah on them! He said, “Anybody from Beis Eili is not making it until twenty.” Twenty years old!

The gemara says they had some great descendants. Who were they? Rabbah and Abaye. They both were descendants of Beis Eili. That means they had no chance to live past twenty. So the gemara says Rabbah who was totally osek beTorah lived to forty. Abaye who was osek beTorah and gemilus chasadim lived to sixty. Now it’s a pelah because there’s nothing greater than Torah! But Torah with chessed? Psssh! Unbelievable! It gave Abaye an extra twenty years.

Now imagine you could know the chances of any of us living to 120 – they are about as great as you winning the $1.6 billion lottery, because no one does. No one wins the lottery. No one lives to 120. Till a 100, maybe. But if somebody tells you you could be ma’arich yamim for doing chessed and you don’t do chessed, you’ve got to be nuts. “It’s not my type,” people tell me. I ask them, “Is it your type to sit in a hospital? Is that your type? You want to sit with your child in a cancer ward, rachmana litzlan, or sit in some other kind of ward, a liver ward, an oncology ward, or a cardiovascular ward? You want to sit there? Is that better? Isn’t it better to do chessed?” Because with chessed you get a mitzvah.

Collecting Is a Chance to Earn Rachamei Shamayim

Now I want to tell you something else. Rav Elya Lopian said this from a Zohar.^[vii] The Zohar says: when Hakadosh Baruch Hu sees that there’s a fellow who needs mercy, Hashem sees middas hadin is coming toward him because of his aveiros, so what does Hashem do? You would think Hashem zaps him. He gets out His big bug zapper and He points it right at his heart, gives a press and suddenly he goes into convulsions and has a heart attack. Or He zaps the guy’s brain. He zaps his liver, his kidneys, his pancreas, or his colon. Hashem has things He zaps. Listen to what the Zohar says. Listen closely because everybody gets zapped in their life, at times. Rabosai, there’s no one that I know of who doesn’t get zapped. The Zohar says when Hashem sees middas hadin is coming at you, Hashem sends an ani to your house to give you a chance to have rachmanus on him. And על ידי זה מרחמים עליו מן השמים! Middah keneged middah! The passuk (Devarim 13:18) says: ונתן לך רחמים, which means Hashem gives you an opportunity for you in your heart to be merachem on the ani,and then through this, וירחמך Hashem will be merachem on you.

Save Yourself: Have Rachamim on Others

I always tell the story of an interesting fellow. One day, he got the big bad news that he had cancer, and it wasn’t a good one. His family had a big meeting, and that night, Hashem sent a meshulach to his house. There were a whole bunch of people there, so the meshulach figured that he got lucky. If he would have known what they were having a meeting about, sharing the bad news with the whole family, he would have realized how lucky he really was if he could have convinced them to give tzedakah to save the man’s life. What did they do? They threw him out. The man said, “Wrong time. Not tonight.” The meshulach said, “What do you mean? Everybody is here. I need a little help.” They told him to go fly a kite, basically. The next thing you knew, that guy was on a kite, straight to heaven. That’s where he went, hopefully; but the point is that he left the world very soon after that unanswered door knock. Could you imagine if that guy would have chapped that Hashem sent him this opportunity, punkt during the meeting, to save his life?!

So the next time you have an opportunity to have rachamus on somebody, say: “How come I got this opportunity now? I don’t get an opportunity of having rachmanus,to be merachem on people every day. Maybe there’s a middas hadin on me.” Maybe it’s a message that a middas hadin is upon you and you need rachamim mishamayim but they can’t be merachem on you mishamayim. You know why? Because you’re missing the shiur of middas meracham al habrios. You’re not a merachem on the brios, which you need to be zocheh to save your life. So Hashem gives you an opportunity to have rachmanus on somebody in order to save your life. And if chas veshalom you don’t have rachmanus on certain people, you know what’s going to happen? You yourself slam the door on your own rachamim.

Rav Elya Lopian once said that we say at the end of selichos:מכניסי רחמים הכניסו רחמנו לפני בעל הרחמים. Who are these machnisei rachamim? He said: that meshulach that knocked on your door yesterday by night and you refused to be mekabel him, and that fellow you met in the beis medrash yesterday and he said he’s going through a difficult time and you said you have no time for him – those were the shluchim of Hashem to be your machnisei rachamim!And what did you do? You drove them away al paneihem and now you’re screaming מכניסי רחמים הכניסו רחמנו. Maybe you even sing it nice. It doesn’t help you. You slammed the door on yourself! You threw the book at yourself, that’s what you really did. You’ve got to know this! This is an unbelievable yesod.

Need a Yeshua? Go Collecting!

Do you know how many people need parnasah? I tell people: sending out resumes is the stupidest thing you ever did. One resume, maybe. People send out hundreds of resumes. They spend whole days on the computer falling into this trap. What are they doing? Help yourself! Pick yourself up, go to the shul where you daven. If you’re ashamed to collect in that shul, go to another shul. Take a few singles in your hand, put it in your hand and say, “Tzedakah, tzedakah, tzedakah.” Go around the shul collecting money for others. You know how fast you’ll get a job then? Believe me, you’ll get a job. That’s sha’ar harachamim.

In the Torah, we have this story. The Torah says you want children? Avraham and Sarah didn’t have children. What was the ma’aseh that triggered their having children? Extreme hachnasas orchim, extreme.

I met a wonderful couple from Eretz Yisrael who didn’t have children. They were ois mentsch. The lady was mamas beside herself. A terrible, terrible situation. I told her, “First, open a gemach.” She said, “I have no money.” I said, “Here’s $1,000. Go open a gemach now. I just started you off. Now you go collect the rest. Get some more. Open a gemach and take care of it. Now pray to get an extreme opportunity of hachnasas orchim. When you’ll get an extreme opportunity of hachnasas orchim, you’re going to know you’re going to have kids. Writing checks is nice, but hachnasas orchim is real chessed. You know why? You give away your life. You give away your house. They take over.”

The guy called me two weeks ago. He said, “Do you remember me?” I said, “What’s your name? I don’t remember you. Who are you?” He said, “I’m the guy.” I said, “Oh yeah, I remember you.” He said, “We just had an opportunity. An older person who’s homeless needs a place to stay. Do you think it’s okay if we put her in our house? It’s only me and my wife. We don’t have a big house, a little apartment, but we can take her in as a chessed.” I said, “My friend, do you remember what I told you about that extreme chessed? This is it. Is your wife up to it?” “My wife’s up to it.” I said, “If your wife is against it, don’t do it because you’ll drive yourself crazy. But if she’s willing to do that chessed, that’s the key, my friend. That is the key.” I hope this is the machnisei rachamim, this is the malach harachamim that Hashem sends them. (Ed. note: the couple had a baby after that).

Kapparah, all brachah, all rachmanus from Hashem. If somebody gets sick, I tell this to him on the spot. A guy came to me last summer. He had serious cancer. He was a painter. He didn’t have a Jewish name either. He was feeling down. I said, “When you leave my house, go knock on doors and collect funds.” He said, “Nah. I can’t do it.” I said, “You’d rather have chemotherapy? Do you like radiation better? Do you like bad news better? Would you rather lay in a grave shortly? You prefer that rather than going collecting? Go knock on doors and tell them my rav told me this is an eitzah on how to give me a zechus.” He called me two hours later. He collected a couple hundred bucks already. I said, “My friend, you’re a wise man. Don’t stop. You just started to open the doors of rachamim for yourself. Don’t stop.”

Now the yetzer hara is going to try to stop you. You’re going to get tired. People are going to say, “What? Since when do you collect money?” Say, “You know that I’m very sick. You know I have cancer, stage four cancer. I need a yeshuah.”

This is the key my friend. There’s nothing like chessed. Hashem gives us such an opportunity to save ourselves. The biggest tzaddikim raised money for lomdei Torah mitoch hadechak. That was their thing. It was an insurance program, the best medical insurance you can possibly get. You look around with these doe eyes. What can I do about it? What’s the big deal?

Be Prepared for Humiliation

I’m extremely grateful to a fellow who pushed me into this business against my will. Looking back, I can now see that he was my greatest benefactor. I had come home from Eretz Yisrael, after my first trip there, looking forward to enjoying the summer up in the Catskill Mountains. I hadn’t been home in a while. In those days, you didn’t go home every year. I hadn’t been home for a couple of years already. I’m relaxing a couple of days into my vacation and I get a letter. Kevod harav hagaon hagadol ish eshkolios middos terumios I said: “Oh boy. This is going to cost me. I don’t know what it is, but this is going to be costly.” I was a punk. I was 18 years old. Someone wrote me a whole long letter. He said: I hope you don’t mind. I borrowed $10,000 from so and so on your name. I told him that you went to America and you’re going to raise money for me and when you come back to Eretz Yisrael you’re going to bring the $10,000. Please. Basically don’t embarrass me, and don’t embarrass yourself. Bring back the money.

So, at first, I got a little ticked. This is ridiculous. My Rebbi had warned me about this guy. He said, “There’s a certain Yid that’s going to come and ask you almost every week to come to his house. My eitzah to you would be to avoid him because he’s going to try to get his claws into you.” I said, “Rebbi, how do you know?” He said, “I know this Yid from youth, and he has eagle eyes. He knows how to chap people who he thinks will be a ticket to his parnasah.” He said, “You can help him, but he’s trying to get you in a situation where you can’t say no. Don’t be meshubad to him.” So I never ate by him, and now he sent me this letter. Before I left Eretz Yisrael he was trying to chap me, but every time he tried to chap me, I was busy with something, and he couldn’tget ahold of me. So I asked my father what to do. My father said, “You’re not mechuyav to do anything, but if you want, it’s a nice thing.”

So after hemming and hawing for a few days, I decided, okay. Motzei Shabbos, we’re going to go collecting. I was thinking, “Should I start in my bungalow colony or another one?” I decided I’m not starting in my bungalow. I was too embarrassed. A yeshivishe bachur like me who came back from Eretz Yisrael – I’m not being like a shnorer over here. In the mountains people knock on your door all day long. So I decided I’m going to go down the road where there was a fancy bungalow colony, a famous bungalow. The people over there had money. I went there. I took one or two of my brothers and a friend, and we walked down to the bungalow colony.

I remember the first bungalow that I came to had a very wide porch, a screened-in porch. On one side, there were three ladies playing a game, and on the other side, a guy with a beard was reading a sefer. Baruch Hashem! A guy who learns a sefer.  I knock on the guy’s door, a thin porch door. The guy looks up, and he sees me and says, “Oh no.” That was the shalom aleichem. I said, “A gute vach.”He said, “You guys are worse than mosquitoes.” I said, “In what way?” He said, “For mosquitoes, they have spray, but for people like you there’s no spray.”

So I walked into the bungalow, and all the ladies started laughing at his funny jokes. I said, “I’m not collecting for myself. I’m here trying to raise money for a talmid chacham in Yerushalayim.” He said, “I don’t care where the money ends up. If your hand is out, you are the shnorer.” I got a little worked up at that point and I said to the guy, “If you’re a cheapskate and you’ve got a heart of stone, just tell me that: I’m a cheapskate. And I won’t bother you. Don’t make fun of me.” I said, “You know what? A gute vach.” I walked out of that bungalow. I took that door, and bamm! I slammed it and said, “Good riddance,” and walked away. I said, “I quit this job,” and started walking out of the bungalow colony and walking back up the road. I said, “Can you imagine that? That’s my shalom aleichem. I mean, tell me, ‘I can’t give you.’ Why do you have to mock me?” I said to myself and my brothers, “This has got to be a test. I never saw people treat others that way. How could it be the first bungalow I knocked on, and this is the shalom aleichem I get? Let’s go back.” My brothers said, “Are you crazy?! You’re a glutton for punishment here?” I said, “I’ve got to try this.”

I go to the next bungalow. It was pitch dark. I said, “Oh, this is the bungalow I want. No one is going to be home.” I knock on the door. I figured they went away for Shabbos. All of a sudden, the guy opens the door, and he goes, “Shhhhh! Shhhhh!” I said, “You’re making more noise with your shushing me than I am with my talking. I’m whispering outside your bungalow. Why are you shushing?” “Shhhhh!” This is ridiculous.

I think I made $1 that night. I made nothing, I’m telling you. But that was the beginning of my career. I saw the best and the worst of Klal Yisrael. I’ll never forget going to one bungalow, and the mother sees me and she says, “Ruchi, kim a her.” Ruchi comes over and she says, “Give the shnorer the tzedakah.” She gives me five pennies. She tells me, “Hold your hand out and bend down.” She puts the penny. And one penny fell on the floor. The mother said, “Pick it up.” I said, “I don’t bend down for a penny.” “Oh, what do you think you are?” I said, “For a penny, I don’t bend down. I don’t come for pennies.” And I said, “I want to tell you something, lady. If you think you’re being mechanech your kid to give tzedakah, you’re not. You’re being mevazeh me here with these five pennies.” Another guy tells me, another chassidishe guy, I’ll never forget, a heimishe guy. He said, “Do you have a letter?” I said, “I have a letter.” I pulled out the letter, but I couldn’t read it. It had a lot of roshei teivos. It was like the letter the guy wrote me about his problems. I started to break my teeth on it. He said ich her ich her. Five minutes later, when I have no teeth left, the guy puts his hand in his pocket. He has a whole pocketful of change. He takes out the change with two hands. He said, “Help yourself to a dime!” I said, “What did you say?” He said, “You could take a dime.” I had to control myself from hitting that guy’s hand and sending that change flying all over. I said, “Are you cuckoo? To take from that pile a dimes? Please!”

I remember one of the best kalabas panim I got – and I mean it. A Satmar yungerman, at a Satmar colony made up of kollel yungeleit,said to me, “You know you’re doing a moradige zach. A moradige zach.”He said, “Come to my bungalow.” He took me to his bungalow. I’ll never forget it. He gave me Saratoga Vichy spring water. Oh, was I excited. I’d heard about it on the radio, but I’d never had it. The guy gave it to me, and he gave me a piece of kugel. He told me, “Mamash, what you’re doing is amazing.” I told the guy, “My friend, you don’t have to give me a penny. You just made me feel like a human being, finally.”

I went like this for weeks. I went for weeks. I finally made the money. I don’t think I had all the money, but most of the money. I remember thinking shrek, “When I come back to Eretz Yisrael, I’m going to go back to that guy and say something that I thought he didn’t do for me.” I did it myself. But I can’t tell you how thankful I am to him because that started my career. I’ll never forget it.

My grandfather used to raise money every month for many tzaddikim muflagim in Yerushalayim. When I went to Yerushalayim I met tzaddikim who knew him. I said, “How do you know him?” My Zeida used to send them money every month. He used to connect families with poor tzaddikim.

If you’re smart, you’ll do this. Save yourself from yesurim. Save yourself from all this suffering. But you’ve got to mutche yourself. The Satmar Rav used to force his chassidim to go collecting. Until today, the Satmar chassidim go around collecting. Fancy guys in Lincoln Continentals. Grosse Suburbans. They’re not collecting for themselves. People would beg the Rebbe, and say, “I’ll give you a check. Just tell me what number. I’ll give you a check instead of collecting. I’ll never collect in fifty years.” He said, “You have to go yourself. It’s a kapparah. I’m doing you a tovah. I’m being mechanech you to be mechaper daled misos beis din.”  Go collect.

Rabosai, do yourself a favor. Save your souls. Do you need kids? Here is the answer. Do you need a job? This is the answer. Do you need better parnasah? This is the answer. Do you need kapparah from your aveiros? Trust me, this is the best way. Cash in. Chap arein. Be matzliach.

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^[i] וז”ל בהקדמת לספר נפש חיים, שכתב על המחבר זצ”ל: ולפי הוראת השעה שהיה נראה לו להוציא איזה דברים מבלי הצפינם. היה קורא ע”ע לא המדרש עיקר אלא המעשה (וממילא נשמע כוונתו על סיפא דמשנה זו וכל המרבה דברים כו’ (לשון רבי המלך) שממלל מלין לצד עלאה להגדילם בעיני השומעים (ועיין מדרש שמואל שם). בכל דרכיו. היה ממעט כבוד עצמו להרבות כבוד שמים. הן במילי דצבורא. בפרט בעניני הכלל. מודעת שהשליך נפשו מנגד ועסק הרבה יתר על כדי כחו. ואף כי זקן היה. היו ידיו אמונה. עד בא השמש. ואף ככלות כח רח”ל גם על משכבו בחליו. רעיוניו סליקו. ועיניו היו נשואות השמימה. לשתף שם שמים בצערא דהכלל והפרט. בגנוחי ואנחות בשברון מתנים. ואנחותיו הרבות בזה היו שוברות כל גוף השומע. (והיה רגיל להוכיח אותי על שראה שאינני משתתף בצערא דאחרינא. וכה היה דברו אלי תמיד שזה כל האדם לא לעצמו נברא. רק להועיל לאחריני ככל אשר ימצא בכחו לעשות). ודן והורה. אוהב שלום. ורודף שלום. אוהב את הבריות וקרבן לתורה. וזה היה דרך למודו בקדש מעודו. הן בתורה. והן בדרכי ה’ הישרים שהיה מורה. הניח כבוד עצמו. ובחר לו ללמד באשר ייטב להם לאחריני. אשר כקטן כגדול ישמעון. בכל רובי תורותיו אשר זכה וזכה את הרבים. לא הניח ידו מלהגיד לבני עירו אחר תפלת השחר פרשה מסדרא דשבוע יום יום. וכל הנכנסין לביהמ”ד יצאו מלא דבר כאשר כ”א קלט לפי דרכו. אוהבי הפשט קלטו עומק פשוטו במקרא. ודורשי הרשומים. דרוש דרשו ממה שלקחה אזנם. מה שנזרקה מפיו מדי דברו בקצרה. וכל השומעים שמחו במתק שפתיו אשר ברור מללו כקורא הפרשה לפני תשב”ר. וכ”כ היתה מצוה זו חביבה בעיניו שהניח כל דבריו בקדש והוה רהיט לבי מדרשא בעוד שכל הצבור מתפללין וקטן וגדול שם הוא וחדותא שלימתא הוה חדי מינה. באמרו בלאגמורי דבר הצריך תלמוד. לאו כולי עלמא גמירי. וזאת התורה כל אפיין שוין באבנתא. ומטיב לכולם. ועלץ לבו בזה. ילמדו ענוים דרכו, וכו’.

^[ii] אֵל תִּהְיוּ כַּעֲבָדִים הַמְשַׁמְשִׁין אֶת הָרַב עַל מְנַת לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס כו’, (אבות א, ג). וְרַשִׁ”י פַּרֵשׁ דְּקָאִי עַל שְׁכַר עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, נִרְאֶה שֶׁזֶּהוּ מְקַשֶׁר וּמְחַבָּר לְעֵיל, עִם אָמְרָם “עַל ג’ דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד וכו’ עַל גמ”ח”, כִּי הִנֵּה יִפָּלֵא, אַחֲרֵי אֲשֶׁר כָּתוּב בַּתּוֹרָה (ויקרא כ”ו): “אִם בְּחקּוֹתַי תַּלֵכוּ וגו’, וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם”, וְכל טוֹבוֹת העוה”ז מַבְטָח לְשׁוֹמְרֵי תּוֹרָה, וּמַה זֶה, אֲשֶׁר הָעוֹבֵד ה’ יִדְכָּה יָשֹׁחַ. אֲבָל הַטַעַם הוּא, כִי בְּשֹׁרֶשׁ כֹּל הַמִּצְווֹת, מְעוֹרְרִים רב טוּב, וְשֶׁפַע עָצוּם בְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת, וּמוֹרִיד מָזוֹן וְרֶוַח, אַךְ אִם עוֹשֵׂי הַמִּצְווֹת מְעוּטִים, וְאֵין צִינוֹרִים לְשֶׁפַע הַטּוּב רַק מֵהַמְעַטִים, וה’ ית”ש בְּרַחֲמָיו חָפַץ חֶסֶד, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה חַיִּים וְשֶׁפַע לְכֹל בְּנֵי אָדָם, גַּם לְאֵינָם רְאוּיִים, וְנוֹעַל הַשָּׁפַע מֵהַמְעַטִים, הַשְׁרִירִים יִרְאֵי ה’, וּמְחַלֵּק לְכָל בְּנֵי אָדָם. וְלִפְעָמִים, לְמִי שֶׁבַּשְׁבִילוֹ בָּא הַכֹּל, לְעַצְמוֹ אֵינוֹ מַגִּיעַ, וּכְמוֹ שאָמְרוּ עַל ר’ חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא (ברכות י”ז.), כָּל הָעוֹלָם כַּלּוֹ נִיּוֹן בשׁבִיל חֲנִינָא בְּנִי, (ופי’ השל”ה, “בִּשְׁבִיל”, לְשׁוֹן דֶרֶךְ וְצִנּוֹר, כְּמוֹ שְׁבִיל הָרַבִּים, שְׁבִיל הַיָּחִיד) וַחֲנִינָא בְּנִי, דִי לִוֹ בְּקַב חֲרוּבִין כו’, וְכִי רַק צִינוֹרוֹ הָיָה מוֹרִיד שֶׁפַע לְעוֹלָם, וּלְעַצְמוֹ לֹא הָיָה מַגִּיעַ, כִּי הָיָה מִסְתַּפַּק בְּמַעָט. חֲשׁוּבָה וּמְקַבְּלֶת, תִּהְיָוּ שִׁיטִיב לוֹ, שֶׁיַּגִּיעַ מִזֶּה אַךְ בְּאֶמֶת, אִם מְבַ שיגִיעַ מִזֶּה נַחַת רוּחַ • וְהוּ הָעֲבוֹדָה הַמִּעֲלָה. הַפְחוּתָה שֶׁהִזְהִירָנוּ מִךְ וְהַבְּחִינָה לָזֶה, אִם הֲלֹא מִטּוֹבַת חֲבַרֶיךָ יָ בְּזֶה, כ”א שֶׁיַּגִיעַ הַטוֹב עַצְמוֹ, וְלֹא לְמַלְאוֹת ב לַעֲבֹר כְּדֵי שֶׁיֵּטִיב לַחֲ כְּוָה יַעֲבוֹ עַל מְנַת 2 הִיא לְמַעְלָה, כִּי זֶה הַ וּלְכָךְ מַגִּיעַ לַצַדִּיק חֵלֶק הָרָשָׁע בְּגַן עֵדֶן, כמאחז”ל (חגיגה ט”ו.), כִּי הָרָשָׁע לָקַח מֵחֶלְקוֹ שֶׁל הַצַדִּיק בְּזֶה הָעוֹלָם. וְזֶהוּ גמ”ח שָׁמְקַיָּם הַצַדִּיק, שֶׁמֶּחֶלְקוֹ נזוֹן כּל הָעוֹלָם. וְלָכֵן, כְּשֶׁנָּטַל ר’ חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא כַּרְעָא דְדְהָבָא (תענית כ”ה.), רָמְזוּ לוֹ, שֶׁיֹּאכַל עַל פְּתוֹרָא דב’ כַּרְעִי, הַיְינוּ תּוֹרָה וַעֲבוֹדָה, שֶׁהֵם שְׁנֵי רַגְלַיִם, תְּרֵין סַמְכִין, וגמ”ח יֶחְסַר לוֹ. כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר לָקַח חֶלְקוֹ לְעַצְמוֹ, יִהְיֶה נִגְרֶע שֶׁפַע מֵהֶהָמוֹן, לְהַחֲיוֹת עַם רַב, שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹכְלִים חֶלְקוֹ, וְאִם כֵּן אֵינוֹ מְקַיֵּם גְּמִילִוּת חֲסָדִים זוֹ. וּשְׁאַר צְדָקָה וגמ”ח אֵינוֹ כְּלוּם נֶגֶד זֶה, כִּי זֶה עוֹשֶׂה צְדָקָה בְּכֹל עֵת, וכמאחז”ל (כתובות נ.), זֶה הַמְפַרְנֵס בָּנָיו וכו’, וְכֹל שֶׁכֵּן הַמְּפַרְנֵס כָּל הָעוֹלָם כָּלוֹ. וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ עַל ר’ חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא (בברכות י”ז:) “אַבִירֵי לֵב הָרְחוֹקִים מִצְדָקָה”, שֶׁלֹא רָצָה בִּצְדָקָה שֶׁל הַמְּפַרְנֵס בָּנָיו וכו’, כַּנַּ”ל. וְנִתְאַכְזֵר עֲלֵיהֶם, מִשּׁוּם שֶׁבָּחַר בגמ”ח שֶׁל כָּל הָעוֹלָם, וְכַנַּ”ל. וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ, אַל תִּהְיוּ כַּעֲבָדִים כו’, לְקַבֵּל פְּרָס, שֶׁתִּרְצוּ הַשָּׁכָר, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּ”וְאִם בְּחוּקוֹתַי” וגו’. אֲבָל תֵּדְעוּ, כִּי הָעוֹלָם קִיָּם, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גמ”ח. שֶׁבִּשְׁבִילְךָ יִתְקַיָּמוּ וִיקַבְּלוּ שֶׁפַע טוּב אַחֵרִים. וְלִגְמֹל עַם כָּל הָעוֹלָם אַךְ טוֹב וְחֶסֶד, וּבָזֶה הֲלֹא שְׁכָרְךָ הַרְבֵּה מְאד, וכו’.

^[iii] בשלמא למ”ד המבזה תלמיד חכם עצמו מגלה פנים בתורה הוי מבזה חבירו בפני ת”ח אפיקורוס הוי אלא למ”ד מבזה חבירו בפני תלמיד חכם מגלה פנים בתורה הוי אפיקורוס כגון מאן אמר רב יוסף כגון הני דאמרי מאי אהנו לן רבנן לדידהו קרו לדידהו תנו (רש”י ד”ה מאי אהני לן – והם אינן יודעין שעולם מתקיים עליהם) 

^[iv] א. הָעִקָּר הַשִּׁבְעָה עָשָׂר – לִרְדֹּף פְּעֻלַּת הַחֶסֶד וְהָאֱמֶת: כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ט”ז:ו’) בְּחֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת יְכֻפַּר עָוֹן וּבְיִרְאַת ה’ סוּר מֵרָע. וְעַתָּה הִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּסוֹד הַמִּקְרָא הַזֶּה. כִּי הַאֻמְנָם אִם הַחוֹטֵא לֹא שָׁב אֶל ה’. לֹא יִתְכַּפֵּר עֲוֹנוֹ בְּפֹעַל הַחֶסֶד. כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים י’:י”ז) אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשָּׂא פָנִים וְלֹא יִקַּח שֹׁחַד. וּפֵרְשׁוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה לֹא יִקַּח שֹׁחַד מִצְוָה. לִמְחֹל וּלְהַעֲבִיר עַל הָעֲוֹנוֹת. וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ כָּל הָאוֹמֵר הקב”ה וַתְּרָן הוּא יִוָּתְרוּ חַיָּיו. אֲבָל מַאֲרִיךְ אַפַּיִם. וְאִם לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ. יִמַּד פְּעֻלָּתָם אֶל חֵיקָם. אָכֵן זֶה שֶׁאָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם בְּחֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת יְכֻפַּר עָוֹן. עַל בַּעַל הַתְּשׁוּבָה דִּבֵּר. כִּי יֵשׁ עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים תּוֹלִין וְיִסּוּרִין מְמָרְקִין. כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְבָּאֵר בַּשַּׁעַר הָרְבִיעִי. וְהִנֵּה הַחֶסֶד יָגֵן בְּעַד הַחוֹטֵא וְיִשְׁמֹר עָלָיו מִן הַיִּסּוּרִין. בְּשֶׁגַּם הַצֵּל יַצִּיל מִן הַמָּוֶת. כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (משלי י’:ב’) וּצְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת. [וְעוֹד יֵשׁ עָוֹן וְהוּא עֲוֹן חִלּוּל הַשֵּׁם. שֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה וְיִסּוּרִין תּוֹלִין וּמִיתָה מְמָרֶקֶת כְּמוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיהו כ”ב:י”ד) אִם יְכֻפַּר הֶעָוֹן הַזֶּה לָכֶם עַד תְּמֻתוּן. וְהִנֵּה כַּאֲשֶׁר הָאָדָם מִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִתְמֹךְ בְּיַד הָאֱמֶת. וְיַעֲזֹר אַחֲרָיו וְיִתְעוֹרֵר בִּדְבָרָיו. וְהוֹפִיעַ אוֹרוֹ לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי עַמּוֹ. וִיחַזֵּק יְדֵי אַנְשֵׁי הָאֱמֶת. וְנָשָׂא רֹאשָׁם. וְכִתּוֹת הַשֶּׁקֶר יַשְׁפִּילֵם יַגִּיעֵם עַד עָפָר. הִנֵּה אֵלֶּה דַּרְכֵי קִדּוּשׁ ה’. וְהוֹד וְהָדָר לֶאֱמוּנָתוֹ וַעֲבוֹדָתוֹ בָּעוֹלָם. וְעֹז וְתִפְאֶרֶת בְּמִקְדַּשׁ תּוֹרָתוֹ. עַל כֵּן בְּהַרְבּוֹת פְּעָלָיו לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת ה’ וּלְעוֹרֵר הָאֱמֶת לְהָכִין אוֹתוֹ וּלְסַעֲדוֹ. וְנִסְלַח לוֹ מֵעָוֹן הַחִלּוּל עִם הַתְּשׁוּבָה בְּשׂוּמוֹ הָאֱמֶת לְעֻמַּת אַשְׁמַת הַחִלּוּל. מִדַּת תְּשׁוּבָתוֹ נֶגֶד מִדַּת מְשׁוּבָתוֹ. זֶה בֵּאוּר בְּחֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת יְכֻפַּר עָוֹן] (שערי תשובה א׳:מז)

ב. וְיֵשׁ בְּמִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה מִן הַחֲמוּרוֹת שֶׁאֵין הֲמוֹן הָעָם נִזְהָרִים בָּהֶם כְּגוֹן הַזְכָּרַת שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם לְבַטָּלָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים י’:כ’) אֶת ה’ אֱלֹקֶיךָ תִּירָא וְאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה הֻזְהַרְנוּ בָּזֶה שֶׁלֹּא לְהַזְכִּיר שֵׁם שָׁמַיִם לְבַטָּלָה. וְכֵן גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים שֶׁהִיא מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות י”ח:כ’) וְהוֹדַעְתָּ לָהֶם אֶת הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵלְכוּ בָהּ זוֹ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים. וְאָמְרוּ גְּדוֹלָה גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים יוֹתֵר מִן הַצְּדָקָה שֶׁהַצְּדָקָה לָעֲנִיִּים וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים בֵּין לָעֲנִיִּים בֵּין לָעֲשִׁירִים. עַל כֵּן אָמְרוּ עַל שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים. וְהִנֵּה הַצְּדָקָה בְּמָמוֹנוֹ. וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים בֵּין בְּגוּפוֹ בֵּין בְּמָמוֹנוֹ. כִּי חַיָּב אָדָם לִטְרֹחַ בִּדְרִישַׁת טוֹב לְעַמּוֹ וְלִשְׁקֹד בַּעֲמַל נַפְשׁוֹ עַל תַּקָּנַת חֲבֵרוֹ אִם דַּל וְאִם עָשִׁיר. וְזֹאת מִן הַחֲמוּרוֹת וּמִן הָעִקָּרִים הַנִּדְרָשִׁים מִן הָאָדָם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מיכה ו’:ח’) הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טּוֹב וּמָה ה’ דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד. וְכֵן מִצְוָה לְהִכָּנֵס לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות י”ח:כ’) וְאֶת הַמַּעֲשֶׂה אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּן וְאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה זֶה לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין. וְיֵשׁ בְּעִנְיָן זֶה דְּרָכִים רַבִּים אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶה בָּהֶן הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת מִן הַחֲמוּרוֹת הַכֹּל לְפִי עִנְיַן הַדִּין. כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה לֹא חָרְבָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אֶלָּא עַל שֶׁהֶעֱמִידוּ דִּבְרֵיהֶם עַל דִּין תּוֹרָה וְלָא נִכְנְסוּ לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין (שערי תשובה ג׳:יג)

^[v] על גמ״ח כיצד הרי הוא אומר (הושע ו) כי חסד חפצתי ולא זבח. העולם מתחלה לא נברא אלא בחסד שנאמר (תהלים פט) כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה שמים תכין אמונתך בהם. פעם אחת היה רבן יוחנן בן זכאי יוצא מירושלים והיה רבי יהושע הולך אחריו וראה בית המקדש חרב [אר״י אוי לנו על זה שהוא חרב] מקום שמכפרים בו עונותיהם של ישראל. א״ל בני אל ירע לך יש לנו כפרה אחת שהיא כמותה ואיזה זה גמ״ח שנאמר כי חסד חפצתי ולא זבח שכן מצינו בדניאל איש חמודות שהיה מתעסק בגמ״ח ומה הן גמ״ח שהיה דניאל מתעסק בהם אם תאמר עולות וזבחים מקריב בבבל והלא כבר נאמר (דברים יב) השמר לך פן תעלה עולותיך בכל מקום אשר תראה כי אם במקום אשר יבחר ה׳ באחד שבטיך שם תעלה עולותיך. אלא מה הן גמ״ח שהיה מתעסק בהן היה מתקן את הכלה ומשמחה ומלווה את המת ונותן פרוטה לעני ומתפלל ג׳ פעמים בכל יום ותפלתו מתקבלת ברצון, וכו’. 

^[vi] כִּדְרַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר אַמֵּי. דְּאָמַר רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר אַמֵּי. וְאָמְרִי לַהּ, אָמַר רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי אָמַר רַב יוֹנָתָן: מִנַּיִן לִגְזַר דִּין שֶׁיֵּשׁ עִמּוֹ שְׁבוּעָה שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִקְרָע – שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״[וְ]לָכֵן נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְבֵית עֵלִי אִם יִתְכַּפֵּר עֲוֹן בֵּית עֵלִי בְּזֶבַח וּבְמִנְחָה״. אָמַר רָבָא: בְּזֶבַח וּבַמִּנְחָה אֵינוֹ מִתְכַּפֵּר – אֲבָל מִתְכַּפֵּר בְּתוֹרָה. אַבָּיֵי אָמַר: בְּזֶבַח וּמִנְחָה אֵינוֹ מִתְכַּפֵּר – אֲבָל מִתְכַּפֵּר בְּתוֹרָה וּבִגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים. רַבָּה וְאַבָּיֵי מִדְּבֵית עֵלִי קָאָתוּ. רַבָּה דַּעֲסַק בַּתּוֹרָה – חֲיָה אַרְבְּעִין שְׁנִין, אַבָּיֵי דַּעֲסַק בְּתוֹרָה וּבִגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים – חֲיָה שִׁיתִּין שְׁנִין.

^[vii] עוד שם במדרש: “אמר ר’ חייא: ג’ מדות טובות יש להן לישראל” – היינו שהקב”ה הנחיל לכל או”א מישראל ג’ מדות טובות להיותם נטועות בלבותם – “ואלו הן: ביישנים, רחמנים, גומלי חסדים”. ביישנים – היינו שיתבייש אדם לעשות דבר מכוער, ויש כמה דינים בזה, כגון: כשאדם יושב בבית השימוש – לא יגלה בשרו קודם שישב, אלא לאחר שישב, כי צריך להתבייש בעצמו מלגלות פירועו. ועוד כמה דינים ישנם הנובעים ממדת הבושה. ואמרו עוד: “ביישנים – שנאמר (שמות כ’, י”ז): “ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם’ – זו הבושה”, כי בושה ניכרת על הפנים. “רחמנים מניין? שנאמר (דברים י”ג, י”ח): ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך'”. ואחז”ל (זוה”ק בראשית דף כ”ג) שכשהקב”ה רואה כביכול שמדת הדין מתוחה על האדם מפני עוונותיו שולח לו הקב”ה עני לביתו שירחם עליו, ועי”ז מרחמין עליו מן השמים – מדה כנגד מדה, וזהו: “ונתן לך רחמים” – כלומר: שיתן לך בלבך שתרחם על העני, ועי”ז “ורחמך” – שהקב”ה מרחם עליך עבור זאת, כי במדה שאדם מודד – מודדין לו. ומצמיחו, “גומלי חסדים מניין? שנאמר (דברים ז’, י”ב): “ושמר ד’ אלקיך לך את הברית ואת החסד'”. הקב”ה שומר לך את החסד שעשית, זורע את החסד וכאמור למעלה: “זורע צדקות מצמיח ישועות”. הרי כמה גדולה מדת החסד, שהקב”ה שומרה, זורעה, ומצמיחה, וכו’. (לב אליהו פ’ נשא)