This past week, in honor of Israel’s Memorial Day, the Jewish Day School had a special remembrance for one of the students that died in this latest confrontation between Israel and Hamas. This young man was known for his kindness, and everyone received a wrist band with the words be kind. I think that is a beautiful sentiment—and I think that we need a clear definition of the path to attain the goal of being kind. I think that it is important to know what actions we take in order to be kind, and explain what kindness looks like, so we know how to act and what expectations we can have. The Jewish tradition has many teachings about kindness, and one book in particular focus on ways that translate the concept into actions—the Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of Our Ancestors. In Chapter 2 Mishnah 9 we learn that Rabban Yohanan told his students to go out and learn which characteristic a human being needed to have to exude kindness. Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. Rabban Yohanan said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words all other words are included. Rabban Yohanan highlighted the thinking of Rabbi Elazar because it encompassed every other definition. When one is guided by a good heart, everything else falls into place, looking at people with compassion and kindness, extending ourselves to ensure our friends are well, living in a conscientious way, and trying to anticipate what will be needed in the world and in our communities. While I agree with Rabban Yohanan that having a good heart is the key to being a good human being, it still does not give me clear instructions on how to be kind. That instruction is found later in the book, in chapter 6 Mishnah 6 (translation based on Dr. Joshua Kulp’s on Sefaria.org):
Greater is learning Torah than the priesthood and than royalty, for royalty is acquired by thirty stages, and the priesthood by twenty-four, but the Torah by forty-eight things. By study, Attentive listening, Proper speech, By an understanding heart, By an intelligent heart, By awe, By fear, By humility, By joy, By attending to the sages, By critical give and take with friends, By fine argumentation with disciples, By clear thinking, By study of Scripture, By study of Mishnah, By a minimum of sleep, By a minimum of chatter, By a minimum of pleasure, By a minimum of frivolity, By a minimum of preoccupation with worldly matters, By long-suffering, By generosity, By faith in the sages, By acceptance of suffering. [Learning of Torah is also acquired by one] Who recognizes their place, Who rejoices in their portion, Who makes a fence about their words, Who takes no credit for themselves, Who is loved, Who loves God, Who loves [their fellow] creatures, Who loves righteous ways, Who loves reproof, Who loves uprightness, Who keeps themselves far from honors, Who does not let their heart become swelled on account of their learning, Who does not delight in giving legal decisions, Who shares in the bearing of a burden with their colleague, Who judges with the scales weighted in the other’s favor, Who leads the other on to truth, Who leads the other on to peace, Who composes themselves at their study, Who asks and answers, Who listens [to others], and adds [to general knowledge], Who learns in order to teach, Who learns in order to practice, Who makes their teacher wiser, Who is exact in what they have learned, And who says a thing in the name of the one who said it. Thus you have learned: everyone who says a thing in the name of the one who said it, brings deliverance into the world, as it is said: “And Esther told the king in Mordecai’s name” (Esther 2:22).
In the coming weeks I will talk about how these forty-eight ways of learning the Torah are also guidelines for us to be kind. I will group some of them together since many of them are connected to the others (all of them are connected, but some connections are stronger than others). Today I will focus my attention to the beginning of this Mishnah. The anonymous author of the Mishnah proclaims that becoming a Torah scholar is more impressive than being a member of the priesthood or being from a royal family. The priesthood and royalty are inherited, while becoming a Torah scholar depends exclusively on one’s work and diligence. Royalty being acquired in 30 stages means, according to the commentators, the thirty exclusive rights that kings received according to the Torah and according to the Talmud. The twenty-eight paths mentioned in relationship to the priesthood correspond to the gifts the Israelites were supposed to bring to the priest during Temple times. I understand the commentators as saying that learning Torah is more meritorious than inherited rights because the paths one must travel to incorporate the learning are individual paths that benefit the community at large. Each human being, when trained in the ways of Torah, can bring grace and spirituality to the world through their own merits and through the ways in which they behave.
Living in the 21st century makes the idea of royalty or priesthood at least cringe-worthy, and definitely unfair. Royalty and priesthood do not determine the ways in which one will be able to contribute to kindness in general. Yet the ways in which we go about studying Torah, following the teachings of our ancestors, can contribute to increasing kindness in the world. As we study these ways, I hope we will learn how to act with kindness in our lives, and be able to truly be kind, in a positive, transformative way.