Rabbi Stiefel's Monthly Article

Rabbi Sharon Stiefel

December 2024

The Current

We Need Each Other More Than Ever

Recently, while teaching about chesed (kindness), I emphasized that it is at the core of our tradition. There are many stories and texts that highlight chesed’s importance. Chesed goes beyond financial support. It is loving kindness and caring for someone else, whether they’re someone close or a stranger. It can include giving food to the hungry or a visit to someone who is sick or comforting a mourner. 

This quote from the Talmud demonstrates that chesed is even more important than tzedakah: 

               Our Sages taught: Gemilut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) is greater than tzedakah in three ways: acts of tzedakah involve only one’s money – gemilut chasadim can involve both money or one’s personal service; tzedakah can be given only to the poor – gemilut chasadim can be done both for the rich and for the poor; tzedakah can be given only to the living – gemilut chasadim can be done both for the living and the dead (through burial).

Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 49B

Many of us feel depressed after the recent election. Everyday acts of kindness can help to counterbalance anxiety about the world’s precarious political situation. In times like this, I believe that we need each other more than ever. We are struggling and fear what is to come for many, including immigrants, trans folks, and those trying to access reproductive health care. So many people are feeling vulnerable with their rights in jeopardy. How do we continue to fight for what we believe when we feel defeated?

We do so in community. We do it by showing up for one another. We do it by extending chesed – kindness. We take care of one another. We reach out to ask each other how we are doing. When we acknowledge the hurt we are feeling in community, we are less alone. We receive one another with an open heart. 

Rabbi Sharon Brous recently wrote in her book The Amen Effect that “sacred companionship” is “A longing to connect with others who can help hold the pain, a need to share what we’ve learned in the trenches, and a desire to give, even when we ourselves have barely caught our breath.” This is, she says, “the spiritual and moral mandate to show up.”

We are frightened about what is to come but we are going to get through this time by relying on our friends, our families and our communities, including Mayim Rabim.  We will care for and support one another as we live out the Jewish values that we hold sacred. We will search for ways that will bring chesed to those who are members of targeted groups. We will seize moments to extend compassion and kindness. And each time we find one of those moments, we will ourselves be empowered to go on.