Kedoshim-Helping Others Helps Us

Helping Others Helps Us

As we look around us on God's green earth, a realization surfaces: We are fortunate to find ourselves living in the United States of America. The spirits of camaraderie and empathy are the hallmarks of what it means to be American. We rally around those who are in need in unprecedented and selfless ways.

Take for example Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami or any other natural or manmade disaster that occurs around the world. The United States is at the forefront of the relief efforts. We spend billions of dollars helping others, whether financially or through volunteer efforts. Kindness and consideration are the fabric of our national character.

Just as all people possess unique qualities, the same is true for nations. This trait manifests itself in the most acute way in our American nation and, hence, permeates every individual that is its citizen. The immediate results are obvious and their essential contributions to the world are strongly felt.

Relatively speaking, the United States is young in years, having being born out of the womb of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. However, the ideals of kindness and giving have been taught to the world by the Jewish Nation for 3,317 years, since they received the directives from God on Mount Sinai. If we delve deeper into those teachings, we will get a glimpse of why these qualities are so essential to the human race.

The Torah states in Leviticus 19:18, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Nachmanides, a 12th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher, asks how it is possible for us to replicate self-love, which is rooted so deeply in the inner recesses of our subconscious, as a feeling for others. He concludes that the directive does not intend that we should engender these feelings within ourselves, but that we should perform those deeds for our neighbors that we would perform for ourselves.

Hence, the gamut of the entire strata of human relationship is succinctly and poetically related as a directive in these words. It is incumbent on every one of us, as a directive from God, to give love, compassion, sensitivity, consideration and help - whether it is psychological, financial or physical - to our fellow human beings.

Furthermore, we read in the Talmud (Shabbos 137b, Sotah 14a. see also introduction to Ahavas Chesed by Chafetz Chaim) a very fascinating passage. It states that the same way that God clothes the naked, visits the sick, comforts mourners, buries the dead and is compassionate, so too we should emulate His ways by performing the same actions. God expects us to be godly. God's giving is pure without any blemish of personal intent. The more selfless and pure we become in giving to others, the more Godly we are.

The reason for this expectation is beautifully stated by the 18th-century Kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in his book "The Way of God." In the spiritual realm, proximity is not measured by distance but by similarity. Therefore, the more similar we are to God, the closer we are to Him. Being Godly means being close to God. Closeness to God means emulating His ways by being kind to others.

To draw another stroke on this exquisite portrait of the Jewish idea of helping others, we encounter the famous statement of the Ethics of Our Fathers 1:2: "On three things the Universe stands; on the study of Torah, on the service of God and upon acts of loving- kindness."The spiritual foundations upon which the edifice of this glorious universe perches itself are the aforementioned things. Without them, the universe would have no sustenance, no spirit and no breath of life. It would cease to exist.

The commentaries explain that in light of the verse in Psalms 89:3, "For I said, the world will be built through kindness," the thought emerges as follows: Through spiritual channels, the divine influence that manifests itself in sustenance of the entire universe is dependent and directly influenced by the actions of people themselves. In other words, as the old adage goes, God helps those who help themselves. If we help and are kind to others then there is reciprocity from God to the universe. Hence, the building of the universe is dependent upon our loving kindness.

In summary, the Jewish view on being kind and helping others is paramount to our existence for three reasons: People need our help, helping makes us Godly, and it sustains the universe.
When we encounter an opportunity to help others in any way, including volunteering our own services for worthy organizations or causes, we should take advantage of it. It will forge us into better Jews and better Americans.