E-Maggid: Rewards of a Mitzvah

As Parashat Chayei Sarah begins, Avraham sees to all the details of the burial of his wife Sarah.  In Judaism, burial is called chesed shel emet, or the most faithful type of kindness.  Reb Chaim of Tzernovitz taught that it's because of this mitzvah that the following chapter begins by saying that Adonai blessed Avraham in everything.

Reb Chaim wonders about two ideas.  On the one hand, we are not to expect any reward in this world for performing a mitzvah.  On the other, the Mishnah teaches that "These are the things that a person eats the proceeds of them in this world, and the principal endures for him into the World to Come:  supporting one's father and mother, acts of kindness, bringing peace between a person and his friend -- and the study of Torah, which equals all of them."

 

All of these are mitzvot we do for the benefit of other people.  Reb Chaim says there is a mysterious dimension to these actions.  They are the easiest mitzvot in the Torah to understand, and yet our own motivations and sense of reward are complex.

 

The thanks we receive in return, the good feeling we have in helping others, the reputation we might develop -- these are not what is meant by the "proceeds in this world."  Instead, when we do acts of chesed, we are the most God-like we can be.  At the particular moment the world might reward us for our act, we are blessed with an awareness of how much we receive of God's generosity at every moment.

 

The paradoxical combination of that awareness, the humility that results, and the knowledge that our acts are the channel to others of God's generosity -- that's what stays with us.  That feeds us, and gives us what to chew on in this world.  And, says Reb Chaim, the ultimate understanding of all of it is hidden away, secured for us to learn in the World to Come.

Comments

[Smokey Joe Kessler-Godin]

Dear Rabbi Savett,

What a beautiful drash. I would quibble with your translation of Talmud Torah Kineged Coolam. the proper translation is "and teh learning of Torah is a helpmate (or partner)to all of these." There is a gezarah shavah between this kineged and that of "ezer kinigdo".
Perhaps this makes your drash even more powerful. What were Avraham's thoughts as he buried his Ezer Kinegdo? Perhaps this is proof that while Avraham did not Recive Torah, he knew and lived Torah.
BTW, did you know that Avraham Avinu was the first astronaut?
All the best to your mishpocha!