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Day 1 - Kindness

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?

Day 2 - Hearing Others

For three years, there were many disputes between the School of Rabbi Shammai and the School of Rabbi Hillel, the former asserting, “The law is according to our view,” and the latter asserting, “The law is according to our view.” Then a voice issued from heaven announcing, “The teachings of both are the words of the living God, but the law is in agreement with the School of Hillel.”
But, it was asked, since both are the words of the living God, for what reason was the School of Rabbi Hillel entitled to have the law determined according to their rulings?

Because they were kindly and humble, and because they studied and even mentioned the rulings of the School of Rabbi Shammai in their arguments.

-Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 13b

Reflection

Rabbis Hillel and Shammai were the leading Jewish scholars of their day. They both lived around the beginning of the Common Era. These two teachers and the schools they founded shaped the very foundations of Jewish law in the post-Temple period. And though they were often at odds with each other, we read here that God accepted both as legitimate opinions. But when it came to how the law would be taught in the future, and how the Jewish people were to behave, it was Rabbi Hillel and his followers whom God judged to be correct. And the reason for this is given: For they were kindly and humble, and they studied and included Shammai’s arguments into their response. Though both positions might contain truth, only one delivered in humility and kindness merits perpetuation. Indeed, part of that kindness and humility is the willingness to genuinely consider your opponents’ positions. The moment we believe we have a monopoly on truth is the moment we lose our credibility.

How can you open your mind to other peoples’ positions today? Even those with which you disagree?

What positions or attitudes can you reexamine today from a different perspective?

What truths can you recognize in your adversaries?

Day 3 - Gratitude

I gratefully thank You, O living and eternal Sovereign, for You have returned my soul within me with compassion – abundant is Your faithfulness!

-traditionally recited upon awaking in the morning.

As we rush and run through the week, there can seem to be no time! Get up, get dressed, run to work, grab a coffee – ALL IN 10 MINUTES OR YOU’LL BE LATE!!! Even the first few, still moments of the day can become nervous, hurried and rushed. This prayer, called Modeh Ani in Hebrew, has been the first words on the lips of Jews every morning for generations. It is a way to not only build in a moment of tranquility and divine connection to your morning, it is also a technique to begin your day, every day, in gratitude. As we sleep, we are vulnerable. Yet each night, our heart continues to beat, our cells continue to regenerate, and our mind refreshes. And we awake, having received back our consciousness, finding – if we’re lucky – all our parts and functions intact. What a mundane miracle – yet a miracle nonetheless.

How can you build a moment of gratitude into your day?

What are you grateful for today?

How to you take time to connect to God during your day?

Day 4 - Seize the Moment

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?

-Rabbi Hillel, Pirkei Avot

If a commandment or a good deed comes your way, do not delay in fulfilling it.

-Mechilta Bo, Parsha 9

Reflection

If we accept that we should always try to advance good causes on this earth, if we accept that we all have but a short stay here, then we must accept the urgency that constantly surrounds us. Earlier this week we made time for gratitude. Making time for mitzvot, or good deeds, is essential! But sometimes, mitzvot catch us by surprise. Let’s consider the commandment to visit the sick. Sometimes our loved ones get sick unexpectedly. Sometimes it’s even at an inconvenient time. Should we delay? “Well I could visit cousin Rebecca today, but I have this meeting and that project to do… I’ll just see her next week.”

Rabbi Hillel and the thinkers that followed him believed that to take such an attitude was to waste precious time. Why delay? What if the mitzvah passes us by? Surely it is good news if cousin Rebecca gets better. But how supported could she have felt without those who love her close by? And if she doesn’t get better…

If I wish to be a good person, may I be one today. For, as the Rabbis teach us, “If not now, when?

What good deeds have I been putting off?

How can I take full advantage of my time today?

How can I be open to those tasks that usually make me want to close myself off?

Day 5 - Shabbat

You may do whatever you must during the six week days, but you must stop on the seventh day. Your donkey and ox must then be able to rest, and your maid’s son and the foreigner must be able to relax.

-Exodus, 23:12

The text above is from this week’s Torah portion, Mishapatim, in which God reveals His laws. We have just read Yitro, in which the Children of Israel receive the 10 commandments (or top 10, as I like to call them). Now those 10 laws are reiterated and expanded upon. Repetition in the Torah is common and revealing. When a concept or a law is repeated, it can often be instructive what is changed, what is preserved, and what new material is introduced.

The first iteration of the above commandment acknowledges God’s creation, and takes special care to forbid work for all members of the household, slaves, servants, foreigners and animals. This reiteration omits the reference to creation, and not only demands that our animals and servants be able to refrain from work (a negative commandment) it specifically commands that we be able to rest (tishbot) and relax (yanoach) – positive commandments.

What does this mean? This Shabbat, as you finish your work and get ready for the weekend, remember the active things you can do for yourself to rest and replenish. Make time for yourself, but do not think of all the things you aren’t doing! Enjoy Shabbat, enjoy a rest, relax.

What can you actively do to relax this Shabbat?

When you rest, does that allow others to rest?

Who is working today that deserves a rest?