Chessed 1

Speaking of Krias Hamigilla, the Tur says לאחריה במקום שנהגו לברך יברך, V’haidna nahagu levorach. Mah mevorach?

ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם האל הרב את ריבנו והדן את דיננו והנוקם את נקמתנו והנפרע לנו מצרינו והמשלם גמול לכל אויבי נפשנו. ברוך אתה ה' הנפרע לעמו ישראל מכל צריו האל המושיע. כתב רב עמרם ז"ל לא אמרינן האל הרב

ela harav d’ha amrinan Elokeinu. So Rav Amram Gaon's ta’anah is on this first nusach and the Bach says that's the nusach of the Rambam and the Smag. That's the stam nusach that the Tur presents. It doesn't make any sense. ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם. If we would continue to harav es rivainu, right? He, the one who, the one who fights our battles, who contends for us in our struggles, so who's the "one who" is ה' אלקינו מלך העולם. So it's clear who the antecedent of harav es rivainu is. The antecedent of harav es rivainu is ה' אלקינו מלך העולם. So what do you need an extra shem Hashem for: האל הרב את ריבנו? That's Rav Amram Gaon's ta’anah. The Bach farentfers for the nusach for the Rishonim who have

האל הרב את ריבנו: נראה לישב דסבירא להו דצריך לומר בפתיחת הברכה ברוך אתה ה' אלקינו מלך העולם וכן בחתימה צריך לומר ברוך אתה ה' כדין כל הברכות הארוכות.

That's the regular matbeia shel bracha. It has to say Elokeinu Melech Ha'olam in the beginning and Baruch Atah Hashem again in the chasima. That's the regular matbeia habracha.

אלא שמוסיפין כאן שם האל לפי שבמזמור על אילת השחר שאמרה אסתר הזכירה שם האל בתפלתה ק-לי ק-לי למה עזבתני.

So the reason we insert the extra shem into the bracha of Ha-keil says the Bach is because that's the shem which Esther Hamalka invoked in the kapitel that she said on the way to Achashverosh: ק-לי ק-לי למה עזבתני. Okay, so that a little bit begs the question: so why did Esther bedafca invoke that shem? V’hu says the Bach לאשר נס זה על ידה. The neis of Purim which happened through Esther Hamalka, she was the instrument for the neis, hoyo b’shem Keil. And then he proceeds to quote a phrase from Tehillim: חסד א-ל כל היום. חסד א-ל כל היום. So in terms of pshat in the bracha, the Bach is explaining that the pshat in the nusach of האל הרב את ריבנו is that we want to state very clearly that it was with a middas hachesed that Hakadosh Baruch Hu was רב את ריבנו דן את דיננו נוקם את נקמתנו. And that's why, yes, we know who was rav es rivainu, but exercising which of the midos that we perceive in Hakadosh Baruch Hu's interaction with the world? Ha-keil. חסד א-ל כל היום. Al kol panim, leaving aside the matbeia habracha of Krias Hamigilla, so Dovid Hamelech tells us חסד א-ל כל היום. That the shem Keil bein hayeter denotes chesed. Now the most basic meaning of Keil, of course, it's a lashon chozek. Lashon tokef of strength, מי כמוך באלים השם, and so many other places where you have that shoresh, it denotes strength. So the, the simple pshat is as follows. So it tells us in Parshas Mishpatim that the mitzvah, mitzvah prika ut'ina, one there, one in Ki Seitzei, is even by a sonei, even by a sonei. The Gemara in Bava Metzia tells us that if a person encounters simultaneously אוהב לפרוק ושונא לטעון, you have mitzvas prika by an ohev, mitzvas t'ina by a sonei. So the mitzvah is to do in this circumstance because the t'ina is by the sonei is מצוה בשונא לטעון. And that is even if you hold צער בעלי חיים דאורייתא, so l'chora we should have given precedence to the prika. Says the Gemara כדי לכוף את יצרו. So better to be, better to be to'en by the sonei כדי לכוף את יצרו. What's the, what's the, the k'fiffas hayetzer here? So either Tosafos al hadaf says that the Braisa isn't referring to the sonei dekra, the sonei dekra is someone that mitzvah lisnoso, but the Braisa is not referring to sonei dekra, referring to someone that it's not mitzvah lisnoso. So I hate the person, if you tell me that I have to go be to'en masa'o, כדי לכוף את יצרו. The Temimah quotes a fascinating pshat from his father-in-law, he says, that his father-in-law said pshat that the sonei doesn't refer to someone whom you hate, but someone who hates you. That sonacha is someone who hates you, and that's the k'visha hayetzer. K'visha hayetzer, it's even a great k'visha hayetzer, not just that you hate him, but adraba you know he hates you. Comes the Torah and says that it's a mitzvah, again, not only is there a mitzvah lit'on, but that mitzvah has a din kedima, has a din kedima than than if the person loves you. Okay, one din, one mareh makom. Another mareh makom, also very well known. Zeho shvach avos says the Netziv in his hakdama to Sefer Bereishis

שמלבד שהיו צדיקים וחסידים ואוהבי השם באופן היותר אפשר עוד היו ישרים היינו שהתנהגו עם אומות העולם אפילו עובדי אלילים מכוערים מכל מקום היו עמם באהבה וחושו לטובתם באשר היא קיום הבריאה.

Even these crude idolaters, the Avos, the Avos lived alongside them b'ahava, with love, and were concerned with their welfare. K'mo she'anu ro'im

כמה השתטח אברהם אבינו להתפלל על סדום אף על גב שהיה שונא אותם ואת מלכם תכלית שנאה עבור רשעותם.

U'v'Rabba, in Bereishis Rabba Parshas Vayeira

איתא על זה שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לאברהם אבינו אהבת צדק ותשנא רשע אהבת להצדיק את בריותי ותשנא להרשיעם.

And he's maarich. As kayadu'a in this point. Then Avraham Avinu developed the capacity, he cultivated the capacity to love, as did the Yitzchak and Yaakov, to love simultaneously those whom he hated. One last mar'eh makom Torah says in Sefer Vayikra referring to an incestuous relationship between brother and sister that chesed hu. It refers to it as chesed. So Rashi quotes the Drashos Chazal: What do you mean it's chesed hu? It's something repugnant, it's something revolting.

איש אשר יקח את אחתו בת אביו או בת אמו וראה את ערותה והיא תראה את ערותו חסד הוא.

So Rashi says quoting Chazal that there was one time in history when Hakadosh Baruch Hu allowed such a relationship, that Kayin and Hevel married their sisters because otherwise the world couldn't have been perpetuated. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu did that as a chesed to allow, again, for the perpetuation of the world. הדא דכתיב עולם חסד יבנה. So that's what Rashi quotes the Midrash Chazal. The Ibn Ezra suggests al derech hapshat. What does it mean chesed hu? And says that al derech hapshat, so the word chesed doesn't really mean kindness. That's not what the word means. What the word chesed really means is something extreme. Let's say a chasid, when you talk about chasidus, you look in Mesillas Yesharim. So what's a definition of a chasid, of chasidus? It means someone who goes beyond what's required. Again, without any negative connotation, only with positive associations, he goes to an extreme. Right, middas chasidus. What does middas chasidus mean? It's not the middle of the road. It's not what everyone does, it's not what everyone has to do, but it means going beyond, going towards the extreme. And that chesed hu really the lashon chesed means it's something extreme. Generally we use chesed to refer to a positive extreme of kindness, but the emes is that etymologically, semantically, the word is really neutral and that it can just as well connote an immoral extreme, and that's what it means here in this pasuk. I think the Ibn Ezra also references in Sefer Yonah, Yonah says referring to the people on the boat who had taken all these nedarim at the height of the storm, that משמרים הבלי שוא חסדם יעזבו. So there are two diametrically opposite perushim in the mefarshim there. What does it mean? Again, he's clearly referring to those ovdei avodah zarah, his shipmates, משמרים הבלי שוא חסדם יעזבו. So one pshat is that Yonah is expressing skepticism as to whether or not they're going to observe and fulfill all the nedarim that they accepted upon themselves. Those people who are meshamrim havlei shav, all the chesed, all the goodness they promised to do, ya'azovu. They're going to abandon it, and once the storm subsided, so with that their new-found religiosity will also get lost. But other suggests the exact opposite pshat. That Yonah is saying, no, they're going to be steadfast, and meshamrim havlei shav means those who previously, who formerly until this point were meshamrim havlei shav, so chasdam, chasdam, their avodah zarah, ya'azovu. They're going to abandon. So again the same usage, I think the Ibn Ezra here cross-references it, the same usage as again chesed. So nimtzeinu limedim this is something that the Rav zichrono l'vracha spoke about that the definition of chesed I think the way he phrased it is to do what seems to be irrational kindness. Because again the semantics of the word chesed are that it represents an extreme. Irrational chesed. I once heard a drasha from Rav Heinemann in Baltimore and he was more or less mechaven to this hagdara of chesed that the Rav zichrono l'vracha had given and he says so just reflect on the story of Rivka. So Eliezer comes and he sets a test for chesed

והיה הנער אשר אמר אליה הטי נא כדך ואשתה ואמר שתה וגם גמליך אשקה

so היא האישה אשר הוכחת לעבדך ליצחק something like that. Okay. Okay maybe Rivka's three years old go with that midrash even without the midrash the story is dramatic enough. So the first time this is what Rav Heinemann toens. Chazal tell us that Eliezer saw that the mayim olu likraso but that only happened once. Doesn't say in Chazal that every time she went back to the well to refill the pitcher that the mayim olu likraso. So here's al kol panim a na'ara a na'ara. Here's this able-bodied man with his entourage. So not only are they sitting around while she goes to draw water for them but they're sitting around they're lounging and she's going time and time again vatishtav l'chol g'malov until the camels with this tremendous capacity so she's drawing gallons and gallons and gallons of water and he doesn't once offer to help. Doesn't send anyone to help her. He's sitting back and he's sitting back and relaxing. Taki irrational chesed. So what's the common denominator of these marei mekomos the Gemara in Bava Metzia of אוהב לפרוק שונא לטעון that priority is given to the soneh again whether the soneh is someone whom you hate or who hates you but either way מצוה בשונא כדי לכוף את יצרו. The Netziv's description of the Avos who hated ovdei avodah zarah tachlis hasina tachlis hasina. You couldn't hate them with a greater passion. Avraham Avinu couldn't have hated Melech Sedom with a greater passion than he did and אף על פי כן kama hishtatei'ach to try to save them. And finally the definition of chesed as an extreme as irrational. Agav parenthetically this understanding of the semantics of the word chesed lichora helps us with pshat in a Gemara in Berachos. The Gemara says in Berachos it quotes the pasuk בחסד ואמת יכופר עוון. And then the Gemara teitch's that בחסד זה גמילות חסדים. Very good. And so what did the Gemara add here? So there's no chesed doesn't mean chesed. Chesed chesed could be any extreme. So the Gemara's saying no chesed the chesed in this pasuk the extreme of this pasuk in context of yechupar avon refers to gemilus chasadim. Al kol panim. So lichora what emerges from all this is that while sometimes to do chesed is relatively easy. Is relatively easy. You have an ani asks you for a dollar and you know that Rachmana litzlan he's a bona fide ani, so how much is a dollar? Doesn't take much of a bite out of our budgets to give a dollar. And there certainly is a natural, a natural sense of compassion that we have. So it's not so hard, not so difficult. So sometimes chesed is easy and natural. But clearly what these representative marei mekomos that we looked at indicate is but that the mitzva of doing chesed is not limited to that which is easy and natural. Even when it requires a tremendous effort, even a heroic effort, to do chesed with someone either whom you hate or who hates you, to do a chesed which is irrational. Certainly for ruba deruba, maybe for everyone, it doesn't come naturally. It's more like the Netziv says in last week's parsha on

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדורותיו את האלהים התהלך נח,

so the Netziv translates the pasuk and the flow in the pasuk as follows. Says Noach ish tzaddik means bein adam laMakom. That's the connotation of tzaddik, says the Netziv. Tamim haya says tamim is mashma even bein adam l'chaveiro. And that's what it means tamim haya bedorosav with the people, with his contemporaries, whoever they were, whatever they were, tamim haya bedorosav in bein adam l'chaveiro also. That temimus, that perfection bein adam l'chaveiro that Noach had, it wasn't just that naturally he was a nice guy. Says the Netziv, that's the final phrase of the pasuk, את האלהים התהלך נח לא היה טוב מזג בטבעו. Don't make the mistake of thinking that he was tamim bedorosav bein adam l'chaveiro because he was naturally a nice guy. נח היה טוב לבריות בהתגברות על טבעו l'shem Shamayim verak l'shem Shamayim. So tov labriyos at times requires a hisgabrus al tivo, not only the sort of natural reaction of chesed that we have but going beyond that, requires a tremendous effort, requires a gevura, hisgabrus al tivo. And at times, if it's challenging enough, a gevura elyonis. Some orchim are very personable and it's a pleasure to have such orchim. And then there are other types of orchim. Some people you do a tova, whether it's tzedaka, whether it's gmilus chassadim b'mamona or b'gufa whatever it is, and they're appreciative and they're makir tova and others react as though they're entitled and maybe even have tainos that you don't do more. So it's not always easy. It's not always, again, the natural reaction which can generate the maiseh chesed. It requires a hisgabrus al tivo. It's interesting, the first mishna in Taanis about when we begin with משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם. It's interesting that the first Mishna in Taanis about when we begin with משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם speaks about when we Mazkir Gevuras Geshamim. Gevuras Geshamim. So we refer to rain as Gevurah of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Gemara in Taanis provides Psukim, Yalfusa, where it is we see that that that providing rain is an act of גבורה מצד הקדוש ברוך הוא. Gevurah. Meeidach, the Maharsha in commenting on that Gemara says you look further in the Perek, the Gemara speaks about rain as Rachamim LaOlam, right? We had Rashi a couple of weeks ago in the beginning of Bereishis:

כי לא המטיר ה' אלקים על הארץ ואדם אין לעבד את האדמה.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu had not yet made it rain and

מאי טעמא לא המטיר? לפי שאדם אין לעבד את האדמה ואין מכיר בטובתם של גשמים.

So Geshamim represent Tov, represent Rachamim, and yet it's referred to as an act of Gevurah on the part of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So Itachen, Itachen that that's the part of what's Nirmaz in the Pasuk in Tehillim of חסד קל כל היום is again so we said that the the the most basic meaning of the word Kel is strength, right? It it refers to again, Almighty. HaKadosh Baruch Hu as Almighty. Dovid HaMelech says it's associated with Chesed as well. חסד קל כל היום. So the Limud for us, again, names of HaKadosh Baruch Hu reflect Midos of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Midos of HaKadosh Baruch Hu are normative for us in terms of the Mitzva of VeHalachta BiDrachav. So the Limud for us is that the practice of Chesed isn't only a question of a person with natural softness reacting that way, but it can require Kvishas HaYetzer, it can require Hisgavrus Al Tiv'o. And the same way Chazal tell us we usually associate this with with different struggles, different battles that a person has to be Margiz יצר הטוב על יצר הרע. A person has to person has to agitate the Yetzer HaTov against the Yetzer HaRa. A person has to work, a person has to be Misgaber. So that's true when it comes to to cultivating and practicing Gemilus Chasadim.