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TORAT MIZRACHI

Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon Rabbanit Sharon Rimon

Everything Needs Chesed

P arashat Chayei Sarah is over- something we all need to receive. develops into a sense of unity through-

That’s just the way G-d created the
flowing with acts of chesed:
out all sectors of our people.
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world. It might not always be easy to
do chesed but it can be even harder to Today, one positive side effect of
• At the start of the parasha, Avra- receive it! COVID-19 is the rise in opportuni-
ham buries Sarah. ties to do chesed: helping people in
quarantine, people who are sick and
• Ephron does chesed with Avraham their families, the elderly, those at risk,
by agreeing to give him the Ma’ara people who have lost their jobs, etc.
(even though Avraham insists on Many of these people have never been
paying him handsomely).
in a position of needing chesed. On
• Eliezer does chesed for Avraham the contrary, they may have even been
by going to look for a wife for on the side of the givers up to eight
Yitzchak. months ago.

• Rivka gives water to Eliezer and We learn from Avraham though: even
his camels (although he only asked a person of chesed needs chesed.
for himself).
Moreover, a person of chesed knows
• Betuel and Lavan allow Rivka to how to appreciate the chesed he or she
marry Yitzchak. receives, even when it may be the most
natural thing in the world. A person of
• G-d does chesed for Avraham. chesed knows how to express gratitude
to all those givers around him: parents,
• At the end of the parasha,
Yitzchak and Yishmael do chesed spouse, colleagues, employees, teach-
by burying Avraham. ers, students, etc.
This list reveals a surprising thing: a We are not perfect and we are not All of the people that make up a per-
large proportion of the chasadim in G-d. Even if we are able to help many son’s surroundings add something
the parasha are done for Avraham! others, we will always need help from to that person’s life, and part of the
The very epitome of chesed – ד ֶ ס ֶ ח others. And in those cases, we must enjoyment of that life is to notice
ם ָ ה ָ ר ְ ב ַ א ְ ל – is the person who needs it that chesed, to acknowledge it and to
the most! allow those others to help us, because express sincere gratitude to those who
true chesed allows for others to do do it.
This shows us that everyone needs chesed for you as well! It enables others
chesed, even Avraham Avinu, the “Man to give and not just to receive.
of Chesed.” The Midrash (Bereishit 1 Shown to me by my esteemed father-in-law,
1
Rabbah) says: “Everyone needs chesed. And even if we don’t need to receive, HaRav Blumenzweig.
Even Avraham, for whom chesed exists we need to allow others to give. 2 See Maharal, Netiv HaTzedakah, 6.
in the world, needed chesed, as it says The deeper mechanics is that when we
ם ָ ה ָ ר ְ ב ַ א יִנד ֲ א ם ִ ע ד ֶ ס ֶ ח הׂ ֵ ש ֲ ע ַ ו, “and he did
ֹ
chesed with his master Avraham.” allow others to give to us, we are cre-
ating a strong and meaningful connec- Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is Rosh HaYeshiva
Chesed is something we are all tion between us, and when we all give at JCT–Machon Lev and Head of Mizrachi’s
expected to do or give, but it is also and enable others to give, this bond Educational Advisory Board.

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