[Avodah] Kiddush haSheim and Chessed - R Dr Hillel Goldberg

[Micha Berger]

I am unsurprised that R Dr Goldberg routinely gives food to homeless
people. But this article takes a position close to my own about what
role Qiddush haSheim ought to have in this kind of behavior.

The way I would put it is that it is our job in the world to emulate
Hashem and partner with Him in bringing His Good to others. Qiddush
haSheim is a natural consequence of such acts. But if we make the act
itself about Qiddush haSheim, we dehumanize the other we are helping. Turn
them into "tefillin" or an "esrog" for our mitzvah of Chessed. Qiddush
haSheim, like happiness, can only happen as a consequence of our pursuing
something else.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

https://www.ijn.com/homeless-friends-denver

My homeless friends
Hillel Goldberg | Intermountain Jewish News / 2024-11-28 22:38:38

...
"Why do I do this?

"First, here is why I don't do it.

"I don't do it to make a good name for the Jewish people. I do introduce
myself as "Rabbi Goldberg" and if the recipient thinks the better of
Jews -- if I've made a "kiddush Hashem" -- so much the better. But this
is not my motivation....

"I don't carry around and distribute food because I think it's going to
satisfy someone's hunger that day. I know I'm giving only a little. But
it's something -- especially the cool water in the hot summer....

"I have no illusion that I am solving the homeless problem, even in
a small way. I am not making a dent in a complicated, recalcitrant,
socially damning problem, or even in one person's life; nor do I have
reason to feel any less disturbed by the desolation of these people
living the streets....

"Why do I do this?

"First of all, I learn something. I learn not to judge. Take Pete. He
is one of the few people I see with some regularity.... OK: so here's
the first assumption many people make. These people with the cardboard
signs don't really need the help.... But Pete keeps talking. He says,
'It's been 22 months since my back surgery and finally all of the bones
have come into place, except for one, and I can finally do some work.' So
much for unworthy judgments about unnecessary sponging."

"Why do I do this? We live in a society in which human relationships are
radically attenuated. We have fellow workers and most of us have family
and 'friends,' but for most of us the great bulk of our human interactions
do not enable the development of real friendship. 'Transactional'
is the word these days: we do what needs to get done. That's how we
relate to the person at the grocery counter, the salesman in the store,
the person next to me on the bus or the subway, the doorman, often even
the fellow worker -- all these people I see, in many cases, every day;
at best, I extend and receive a nod, a'"hello,' a 'how are you.'..."