Guest Rambler Yitty Koval
Kindness at the Kotel
It rarely happens that I visit the Kotel and don't chance upon an "only in Israel" moment along the way. A few days ago, I was rushing back from the Kotel at 11:30 pm, so as to catch the last train back to my dorm. As I was leaving the Kotel plaza, I saw a woman approach me; wary of strangers trying to talk to me at night, I began walking away from her.
But then she quickly, slightly desperately, said in English, "Wait - can you do me a favor and bring soup to those women?" and she pointed to a corner of the Kotel.
Intrigued, I stopped short and asked her what she meant by that. This woman went on to explain that she brings soup every night to three homeless women who sit in a corner of the Kotel plaza.
"But," she told me, "Once I arrive at the Kotel, I try to find someone new every night to take the soup and bring it to the women. I don't want them to see the same person coming every night, and become embarrassed. If a new stranger brings them the soup each day, their discomfort at accepting charity will be mitigated."
I was blown away, and, of course, brought the soup to the homeless women and wished them a good night, hardly believing this opportunity to be a part of such a tremendous mitzvah. I then parted ways with the stranger whose level of kindness is as described in this past week's Torah portion, when Rebecca and Eliezer met at the well.
Eliezer, with his camels in tow, was on a mission by his master Abraham, to find a suitable bride for Isaac. He stopped at the well and waited to see what would happen. What did happen is that he chanced upon Rebecca, who offered to help.
Rebecca gave water to both Eliezer and his camels, and there is a subtle, yet significant, difference in the way the Torah describes her actions:
When Rebecca gave water to Eliezer, it was she who decided when to stop giving him water. When she felt that he had enough water, she then "finished giving him drink." However, when Rebecca gave water to his camels, she only stopped giving them water "when the camels had finished drinking."
When we proactively do an act of kindness for someone, we're usually the ones who choose just how much time to spend on it, and how much to give. The woman I met at the Kotel could've saved herself time and energy by bringing the soup to the women herself every night. This is how Rebecca was toward Eliezer and it's definitely a beautiful act of kindness.
However, this incredible stranger went above and beyond. She did her chessed until they had finished drinking, on the other peoples' terms. She didn't just think about it from her point of view and do it the way it was most convenient for her; rather, she was sensitive enough to consider how the women would feel accepting her charity, and she did the chessed on a higher level.
When doing an act of kindness we often feel a subconscious sense of entitlement that tells us that we can end our flow of generosity when we decide to do so. It goes against our nature to give until the recipient says to stop. But sometimes this is exactly what God wants us to shoot for!
Shabbat Shalom,
Yitty Koval
