The Chesed Boomerang Principle Printed with permission from "The Chesed Boomerang" by Jack Doueck www.judaicapress.com Jewish tradition promises that chesed, such as feeding the hungry, will not go unrewarded. Proverbs 19:17: “He that is gracious to the poor lends to God and his good deeds He (God) will repay him” The Rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash often stress this verse in Proverbs to encourage the people to be kind and bestow mercy. The Midrash (Tanhuma Mishpatim 15) tells us: God Himself says... “If the poor man was hungry and was in the throes of death and you helped nourish and revive him, I swear I shall restore a life to you in return. ... I shall remember what you did for the poor man, and I shall save (your children) from death for your sake.” God will repay a life for a life. The Talmud (Shabbat 156b) tells an incredible story of the power of feeding the hungry. Rabbi Akiva was told by astrologers that, on her wedding day, his daughter would be bitten by a snake and die. On her wedding day, she stuck a large pin into the wall and it entered the eye of a snake that was about to jump out at her, and inadvertently killed it. The next day, she told her father what happened, and he asked: “You must have done something to be saved from that snake. What did you do?” She replied, “at the wedding, people were busy feasting and celebrating. A poor man came to our door, and I could see he was hungry and nobody was helping him. So, I ran over to him and gave him my portion of food so that he would not be hungry.” Rabbi Akiva then declared to his students that when the verse (Proverbs 10:2) says, “charity saves from death”, it refers to natural as well as unnatural death. The Talmud tells us (Mishnah, Peah 1:1) that chesed stands by man until the end of all generations. As it was written in Psalms (103:17), and the chesed of God endures forever and ever for those who fear him. The Talmud further states (Avodah Zarah 17b): Rav Huna said: “He who occupies himself with Torah study (alone, without doing acts of chesed) is as if he had no God, for it is said (Chronicles II, 15:3): ‘Now for long seasons Israel was without the true God’. What is meant by ‘without the true God?’ It means that he who only occupies himself with the study of Torah is as if he had no God to protect him”. Perhaps the statement of Rabbi Huna can be understood as follows: If one occupies himself with Torah study without doing acts of chesed it is as if he has no God to protect him and shield him with divine mercy. He has “no God” to show him chesed in return and help him in his time of distress and need. The Talmud (ibid) says that Rabbi Hananyah ben Teradyon was arrested. He knew that he did not do enough chesed, so he was not going to be freed. Rabbi El’azar ben Perata was arrested on five charges, but since he studied Torah and practiced acts of chesed he would be freed. The Midrash (Tehillim 118) expounds on the verse in Psalms (118:19), “open for me the gates of righteousness” as refering to the world-to-come. They will ask man: “What work did you do” (to deserve to enter this world?) A man answers, “I fed the hungry.” They respond: “This is the gate of those that feed the hungry. Enter!” Another replies: “I gave drink to the thirsty.” They respond: “This is the gate of those who gave drink to the thirsty. Enter!”. . . The Midrash (Ruth Rabba, chapter 5) states: “Come and consider how great is the power of those who perform acts of charity. How great is the power of those who do kindly deeds (chesed), for they shall shelter neither in the shadow of the morning, nor in the shadow of the wings of the earth, nor in the shadow of the sun, nor in the shadow of the wings of the Hayot or Cherubim or Seraphim (heavenly bodies), but under whose wings do they shelter? Under the shadow of Him at Whose Word the world was created, as it said (Psalms 36:8) ‘How precious your loving kindness, O, God! And the children of man take refuge under the shadow of your wings’.” Another Talmudic saying (Bava Kamma 17a): “Whoever occupies himself with Torah as well as acts of chesed will see his enemies fall before him... and he will acquire intuitive understanding like the children of Yisachar (see Chronicles I, 12:32). Joseph is used as the example because he had supplied food to many people during the famine in Egypt. He also took care of his father’s funeral. Jacob tells Joseph (Genesis, 47:29): “Do unto me chesed and truth.” The Talmud says (Avodah Zarah 5b) that doing acts of loving kindness rescues man from the clutches of his evil desires. There is a story told (Avot Derabbi Natan chapter 3) about a saintly person who was habitually charitable. Once, he set out in a boat, and a storm developed and sank his boat in the sea. Rabbi Akiva witnessed this and came before the court to testify so that the man’s wife could remarry. Just as Rabbi Akiva was about to take the stand, the man came back and stood before him. “Aren’t you the man I saw whose boat overturned at sea last night?” The man nodded. “How did you get out alive? Who raised you out of the sea?” “Let me tell you what happened”, the man responded. “You see, when I sank to the depths I heard the noise of the waves of the sea. One wave said to the other, ‘hurry, let us raise this man out of the sea for he practices charity every day of his life.’ You see, my charity that I gave and the chesed that I do —raised me up out of the sea. My charity saved my life indeed, as it says: “Charity rescues from death” (Prov. 10:2)” Then R’Akiva spoke up an declared “Blessed be God, the God of Israel... ” Return to 'How To' Menu