[Avodah] One of the most significant mitzvot you will ever perform

[Richie]

[From http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/alport/archives/vayechi70.htm , among
other places, Parshas Vayechi - Vol. 5, Issue 12 "compiled by Oizer Alport"
-micha]

...
> The Alter of Slabodka once gave a discourse on the topic of greeting
> others kindly and showing an interest in their welfare. He noted that
> if a person stood next to the synagogue door and poured a glass of milk
> for each person who passed by, everybody would rightfully declare him
> to be a person who does great acts of kindness. However, the Gemara,
> (Ketubot 111b) derives from Bereshis (49:12) that showing another person
> the white of one's teeth with a warm smile is an even greater act of
> kindness than giving him milk.

> So often, we pass somebody who looks like he could use a kind word,
> a warm smile, and a little extra attention, yet the evil inclination
> discourages us from stopping to waste our valuable time on such
> inconsequential matters. The next time this happens, which very well
> may be today, we should remember the lesson of Yosef, that nothing that
> a person does is ever minor, and one has no idea what cosmic chain of
> events one could set in motion with just a few "trivial" words.