From TorahVort.com
Chesed
Here is a Dvar Torah on why doing acts of Kindness is so important in Judaism and I would firstly like to dedicate this Dvar Torah to my friend, Ben Bernstein (Binyamin Ben Mordechai) who passed away four years ago on Lag B’Omer, aged 24 at the time, he was a man that always did acts of kindness, influencing so many people for the better. A very motivated, positive individual that gave everyone time and included everyone and made everyone feel good about themselves. In the Torah, in Parshat Chayai Sara, Avraham realized that the main quality he was looking for in a potential wife for Yitzchak was the attribute of Chesed – doing acts of Kindness- when Eliezer who was the man on the search for a wife for Yitzchak, saw Rivkah drawing the water for himself and the camels, he knew that she would be the right one as she really attributed the characteristic of Chesed. Chesed could be helping someone out if they are having difficulty doing work, a huge mitzvah, helping the individual or group do the work much quicker. Ben Bernstein was a man that always helped out everybody and enjoyed to do it, whether with their studies, cooking, socialising, work and many other things, he did it in a state of happiness. We see in the Parshat Ki Saitzai in the book of Dvarim, that one should always help their friend unload a donkey; this teaches us how important it is to help other people. Praying for another individual’s welfare is also an act of kindness, as prayer can open the gates to many things. We see in the book of Samuel how Hannah prayed so hard and in turn was awarded Samuel as a son, the future prophet who anointed Saul and David. Ben Bernstein regularly prayed in shul three times a day and included everyone’s welfare in his prayers. Acts of Kindness could also be in the form of making people feel good about themselves, Ben Bernstein influenced many people. He was a cool and very popular guy; however he in no way had one group of friends, he always was friendly with everyone, would make time for everyone, he wouldn’t judge anyone on appearances or backgrounds, everyone was his friend. He greeted everyone he saw always with enthusiasm. In Pirkei Avot, a Mishna asks, who is the truly honoured person? the answer in the Mishna is ‘The one who honors other people.’ Ben Bernstein gave honor to many people and influenced many people for the better. We see in the Torah that Aaron was worthy of becoming Kohen Gadol because he made peace among many people and greeted everyone with enthusiasm. Also we learn that the great Rav Yochanan Ben Zakkai, would not been seen walking 4 meters with out learning Torah but greeted everyone he saw first. We see in Parshat Vayera in the book of Bereishit, that Avraham, despite just being circumcised three days prior, was yearning so much to have guests that he sat outside his tent and ran towards the three guests and cooked a meal for them, despite he was in agony. That’s how much he was yearning to do his Chesed. Ben Bernstein would always go out of his way to do kindness for others even if it may have been at an inconvenient time. In Parshat Shoftim, the Torah urges people to judge justly and also in Parshat Kedoshim, it relates how one should give people the benefit of the doubt. Ben Bernstein always looked at the good in people, did not see the bad in anyone and always gave the benefit of the doubt. He influenced so many people for the better, turned people in to more positive and much better people; he was an inspiration and was certainly one of the reasons why I took a lengthy spell of my life to learn Torah in Yeshiva. He was a person everyone would always like to be around and made everything exciting, he was a man of Chesed, always positive, may his memory always live on. He never like to speak bad about other people and really hated it when people spoke Lashon Hara or slander, he was always looking at the good in people. In his memory his family has set up an acts of kindness campaign, where everyone does good deeds in his memory, for example, helping out others, being kind, avoid speaking Lashon Hara, doing torah learning or prayers, greeting other people, being nice to ones fellow and so much more, anything related to kindness, this campaign is for everyone to take part in and doesn’t cost anything. Just log in how many minutes of kindness you can perform by visiting his website – http://www.benbernstein.co.uk Please pray in his memory, his Hebrew name being – Binyamin Ben Mordechai.
