Gemilut Hesed
The world rests on three things: the study of Torah, worship, and deeds of loving-kindness. (“Ethics of Our Ancestors” 1:2, from the Mishnah)
Sometimes, it’s good to see and hear the words Jesus would have used. Gemilut hesed is a Hebrew phrase he would have heard often and for which there is no one, complete translation possible in English. The pronunciation is something like jem’-ih-loot hkheh-sed’, the hkh being that back of the tongue sound that has no English counterpart. The translation of that phrase as loving-kindness is about as close as we can come to a specific word, too. But I think a description of it will remind of you something very familiar.
Doing deeds of loving-kindness demonstrate how well the Torah has been assimilated into one’s life through study and worship. It is the culmination of the other two activities. Just as God is believed to act in the world, so are people to act ethically and in a caring manner in the world. That is a basic Jewish belief and attitude; thus, it was a basic attitude and belief of Jesus, too.
Loving-kindness the supreme/best/highest/holiest form of action toward others in the world. It is even better, in a religious ranking of such activities, than charity! Charity is required by God’s justice; taking care of those less fortunate is mandatory in God’s laws. But loving-kindness toward others is the ability to identify with other people, to feel for them, to want to help them or ease their burden even if simple justice would not require it.[1]
Caring for others, even when it not deserved, or sought, or deserved- those are other ways of defining acts of gemilut hesed. Sound familiar yet? It is precisely the kind of care toward others that we speak of when we talk about grace. Grace is God’s gemilut hesed toward humanity. Jesus was God’s most perfect expression of his gemilut hesed!
Another commentary from the Talmud (the commentary on the Torah) says this: “Our masters taught: Loving-kindness is greater than charity in three ways. Charity is done with one’s money, while loving-kindness may be done with one’s money or with one’s person. Charity is given only to the poor, while loving-kindness may be given to both the poor and the rich. Charity is given only to the living, while loving-kindness may be shown to both the living and the dead.”[2]
Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan told by Jesus. The Samaritan acted charitably toward the victim by giving the innkeeper the money to take care of him and feed him. And he also gave of his person; he took the time to take the injured man to the inn, to tend to him, and then to promise to return to him. He acted charitably and out of loving-kindness because he lived that way in the world, unlike the other two travelers who passed the injured man by. Both of those who walked to other side of the road could have quoted the scriptures about taking care of others; they had an intellectual knowledge of those scriptures. But they were unable to act on that knowledge because it was not part of their hearts and souls.
Jesus lived out his life in loving-kindness. He spoke of it often, and then demonstrated it with his actions and his life and his death. He opened the doors to this truth in a way that it applied to all people, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. “You have seen me, you have seen the Father,” he said, affirming that God’s very being is one of loving-kindness for his Creation.
Gemilut hesed also means to understand that we all need deeds of loving-kindness to be done for us, too.”[3] Remember also, the woman who came to Jesus and poured costly perfume on him, as the disciples protested her actions. They saw the perfume only in terms of the money it cost. Jesus understood the act as an act of adoration toward him, AND as an act necessary for the wholeness of the woman herself! To live and act in God’s loving-kindness means allowing others the opportunity to live and act in that loving-kindness, too!
________________________________________________________________________
[1] A Book of Life, Michael Strassfeld, Schocken Books, 2002, p. 207
[2] Talmud, Sukkah, 49b
[3] Strassfeld, 208
Sometimes, it’s good to see and hear the words Jesus would have used. Gemilut hesed is a Hebrew phrase he would have heard often and for which there is no one, complete translation possible in English. The pronunciation is something like jem’-ih-loot hkheh-sed’, the hkh being that back of the tongue sound that has no English counterpart. The translation of that phrase as loving-kindness is about as close as we can come to a specific word, too. But I think a description of it will remind of you something very familiar.
Doing deeds of loving-kindness demonstrate how well the Torah has been assimilated into one’s life through study and worship. It is the culmination of the other two activities. Just as God is believed to act in the world, so are people to act ethically and in a caring manner in the world. That is a basic Jewish belief and attitude; thus, it was a basic attitude and belief of Jesus, too.
Loving-kindness the supreme/best/highest/holiest form of action toward others in the world. It is even better, in a religious ranking of such activities, than charity! Charity is required by God’s justice; taking care of those less fortunate is mandatory in God’s laws. But loving-kindness toward others is the ability to identify with other people, to feel for them, to want to help them or ease their burden even if simple justice would not require it.[1]
Caring for others, even when it not deserved, or sought, or deserved- those are other ways of defining acts of gemilut hesed. Sound familiar yet? It is precisely the kind of care toward others that we speak of when we talk about grace. Grace is God’s gemilut hesed toward humanity. Jesus was God’s most perfect expression of his gemilut hesed!
Another commentary from the Talmud (the commentary on the Torah) says this: “Our masters taught: Loving-kindness is greater than charity in three ways. Charity is done with one’s money, while loving-kindness may be done with one’s money or with one’s person. Charity is given only to the poor, while loving-kindness may be given to both the poor and the rich. Charity is given only to the living, while loving-kindness may be shown to both the living and the dead.”[2]
Think of the parable of the Good Samaritan told by Jesus. The Samaritan acted charitably toward the victim by giving the innkeeper the money to take care of him and feed him. And he also gave of his person; he took the time to take the injured man to the inn, to tend to him, and then to promise to return to him. He acted charitably and out of loving-kindness because he lived that way in the world, unlike the other two travelers who passed the injured man by. Both of those who walked to other side of the road could have quoted the scriptures about taking care of others; they had an intellectual knowledge of those scriptures. But they were unable to act on that knowledge because it was not part of their hearts and souls.
Jesus lived out his life in loving-kindness. He spoke of it often, and then demonstrated it with his actions and his life and his death. He opened the doors to this truth in a way that it applied to all people, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. “You have seen me, you have seen the Father,” he said, affirming that God’s very being is one of loving-kindness for his Creation.
Gemilut hesed also means to understand that we all need deeds of loving-kindness to be done for us, too.”[3] Remember also, the woman who came to Jesus and poured costly perfume on him, as the disciples protested her actions. They saw the perfume only in terms of the money it cost. Jesus understood the act as an act of adoration toward him, AND as an act necessary for the wholeness of the woman herself! To live and act in God’s loving-kindness means allowing others the opportunity to live and act in that loving-kindness, too!
________________________________________________________________________
[1] A Book of Life, Michael Strassfeld, Schocken Books, 2002, p. 207
[2] Talmud, Sukkah, 49b
[3] Strassfeld, 208
posted by D.Barry Weber at 10:34 PM
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