The Rabbis taught: Acts of kindness are greater than charity in three ways.
Charity is done with one’s money, while kindness may be done with one’s money or one’s body [e.g. visiting the sick];
Charity is given only to the poor, while kindness may be given to the poor or the rich [e.g. consoling mourners or those who are depressed];
Charity may be given only to the living, while kindness may be shown to both the living and the dead [e.g. arranging the burial of one who died indigent]
-Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 49b
Reflection
The key message of this Rabbinic commentary, which was compiled between the 2nd and 5th centuries C.E., is that we have something to offer everyone, no matter what our resources. And likewise, everyone has something to offer us in return. What is sometimes translated loving-kindness, or g’milut chasadim, literally denotes a state of being filled up with kindness. Kindness is fuel for the human gas-tank, and unlike petroleum, financial or capital resources are not necessary to procure it. Each one of us can be a full reservoir of kindness – and when we are running on empty, we need only reach out to those around us.
Who can you replenish with kindness today?
Who fills you up with kindness?
What can you accomplish with kindness, that cannot be accomplished with money?
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