by Rabbi Koval
Have you ever been the recipient of a "random act of kindness"? Ever been on Fairmount, trying to turn onto Richmond, and, on a whim, someone just decides to let you through? This past week, I have been, in more ways than one.
Before Rosh Hashanah, my family received an envelope in the mail. It had no return address, our address was printed with a computer label, and it contained $300 inside. A secret admirer, perhaps? From Beachwood, Cleveland Heights, or Solon, maybe? We'll probably never know.
But obviously someone, who was sensitive to the fact that pre-holiday shopping tends to add up, and being a family dedicated to Jewish education, this extra holiday bonus was very much appreciated.
My kids, familiar with stories of tzedaka-filled envelopes stealthily slipped under doorways of destitute families, needed reassurance that this is not the case, thank G-d. Just an appreciative, anonymous friend, practicing a random act of kindness.
A fascinating post-script to this story is the fact that the very same day, Ruchi made her holiday shopping purchases at the butcher shop and the total was exactly $300! We saw in this a Divine confirmation of the Talmudic teaching that G-d promises to personally reimburse all monies spent on enhancing our Shabbat and holiday experience.
At around the same time, JFX started receiving multiple anonymous online donations. Each one for $1, and several times a day. We were unsuccessful in tracking down our eccentric, anonymous donor. So we figured: Whatever! If that's how he wants to spend his tzedaka dollars, so be it, and thank you, Mr. Whoever-You-Are.
However, as this continued daily, we discovered these quote "donations" were nothing more than a clever credit card theft scheme where someone in living in Beachwood, Cleveland Heights, Solon, or Bombay, with a lot of time and little conscience ran random numbers through a computer and when one went through, his $1 donation yielded a jackpot hit of innocent victim's credit card numbers (we quickly put a stop to these "donations").
What a contrast.
Money, like all our resources and talents, can bring out the best in some people: kindness, generosity, and genius tzedaka-giving, bringing joy to others and building a kinder, happier world. It can bring out the worst in others: dishonesty, manipulation, conniving schemes, leaving a sadder, more corrupt world in their wake.
The interesting thing about our kind and thoughtful gift-giver is that, in some ways, his/her gift stands in contrast to the "Practice Random Acts of Kindness" bumper sticker. Random acts are fickle: here today, gone tomorrow. Our anonymous benefactor clearly practices premeditated, targeted, quite un-random acts of kindness - a beautiful lesson to take into the new year. So, our mysterious friend, if you happen to be reading this ramble... thank you.
