What One Person Can Do

The world is built on kindness. Psalms 89:3

 

Gershon Burd died suddenly and tragically at the age of 40. Everyone knew him as a gregarious, helpful man. But during shiva, hundreds of stories about his secret life came out.

It turns out that Burd was a master at performing covert acts of kindness for people all over the world. Much of his chesed was in the form of tzedaka, but he did so in such a clever way, most people didn’t feel that they were recipients of charity. For example, Gershon once met a woman who was broke and trying to care for a newborn. He sent another woman to the house laden with baby supplies and cash with a promise not to disclose who the donor was. On another occasion, he offered a young wife a part-time job and paid her more than the job was worth, in order to help her support her family. A family whose young children wanted to spend a day in an amusement park were given free coupons. Little did the struggling parents know that Gershon paid for their admission then designed and printed coupons to look like admission was free.

 

The Secret Life of Gershon Burd is filled with stories like this. And these random acts of kindness inspired a whole lot of other people to look for small ways that they could contribute to the lives of the people in their worlds. Chapter 4 of The Secret Life of Gershon Burd contains many stories of the small acts of kindness done by people who were inspired by Gershon Burd’s commitment to chesed.

 

When I say small acts, I mean no great investment of time or money is necessary to do chesed for someone else.

 

Do you have items in your home that you aren’t using but others might benefit from? Post a picture and a brief description on your local email list or Facebook group and give them away. Make a donation to a crowdfunding campaign of someone you know or someone whose story touches you. Even if you can’t afford to donate a lot, write an encouraging note along with your modest donation. Help people who are looking for work network by introducing them to someone you know who might know someone. Just get the ball rolling. If you’re in a line with numbered tickets and you see someone with a burden – heavy packages or cranky children, see if your number is before theirs and, if it is, offer to switch so they can get home sooner. Flush a public toilet that someone else left unflushed. Buy a trinket from a street vendor. Offer to drive a neighbor who doesn’t have a car somewhere. Give a worker a cold or hot drink, as appropriate for the weather.

 

Chesed is much deeper than ordinary niceness. Spiritually speaking, it’s a way to pay God back for all the things He does for us, by sustaining us every minute of every day.

 

In the Modim prayer at the end of the Amidah, we say, “We gratefully thank You, for it is You, Hashem, Our God and God of our ancestors for all eternity; Rock of our lives, Shield of our salvation are You from generation to generation. We shall thank you and relate Your praise - for our souls that are entrusted to You; for Your miracles that are with us daily; and for Your wonders in every season - evening, morning and afternoon. The Beneficent One, for Your compassions were never exhausted, and the Compassionate One, for your kindnesses never ended. Always have we put our hope in You.”

 

There are literally endless small ways we can make the world a kinder place, just by having our eyes open for opportunities to help another person. Just as God constantly helps us.

 

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