Welcome to 2020! I have high hopes for this decade. In keeping with the Mussar middah (trait) of zerizut (enthusiasm and dedication), I believe, as a society, we will galvanise ourselves to make the changes necessary to ensure the survival of our environment; in keeping with kavod (respect), we will remember the value of every human being; in keeping with hesed (compassion), we will practice compassion for ourselves and others through regular, small acts of kindnesses. We will build a stronger, more connected, healthier society step by step, person to person, one act of compassion at a time.
This may sound pollyannish. After all, 2019 ended with more anti-semitic attacks and a failed climate summit. But here again, Mussar can help us set the right intention for 2020. We have a choice—what Mussar calls a Behira Point- a moment of choice. We can approach the new year with cynicism and hopelessness, which inevitably lowers our ability to make changes, or we can start fresh, with optimism and a belief in our God-given ability to evolve and change for the better. I choose to have faith in, and see the potential in, humanity. This optimism recharges me and motivates me to do what I can to ensure success in the new decade.
So, I offer us a January Hesed/Kindness Challenge for 2020. Let us commit ourselves to one act of kindess every day this month. It might be as small as thanking the check out person at the grocery store, buying a sandwich for a homeless person you pass on the street, calling a friend in need, helping out at the synagogue, or showing appreciation to someone for a job well done. Any act of kindness will count.
The first task of our Hesed Kindness Challenge is to do the act of kindness. The second task is to make a note of it. Keep track of the hesed you have done. Make a note in your phone, or on a pad of paper by your bedside. At the end of the month, send me how many you did and I will add them up and we will see how many acts of hesed CMT did for the first month of our new decade. Let me know the affect of your hesed—how did the other person react, and how did it make you feel?
Enjoy your acts of hesed. Enjoy showing compassion to others, and to yourselves. Celebrate making a difference (no matter how small) in someone else’s life. Start our new decade off with lovingkindness.
Shabbat Shalom, and may our Shabbat be filled with hesed, Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
