Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

And, in truth, how great is this mitzvah in the eyes of the Blessed L-rd, it being written (Michah 6:8): "He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the L-rd requires of you — but to do justice and to love chesed, etc." And Chazal have said (Succah 49b): "'to do justice' — this is din; 'and to love chesed' — this is gemiluth chasadim." And he also fulfills in this the mitzvah of (Devarim 29:9): "And you shall walk in His ways," as we find in Sifrei on the verse (Ibid. 10:12): "'to walk in all His ways' — these are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is written (Shemoth 34:6): 'Hashem, Hashem, the G-d who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in chesed, etc.'" And Chazal say (Bava Metzia 30b): "R. Yosef taught (Shemoth 18:20): 'And you shall apprise them of the way' — this is gemiluth chasadim."

And through this, one awakens the trait of chesed above. As Chazal say: "The Holy One Blessed be He says: 'Now these, [human beings], who themselves need chesed, do chesed with one anther; I, who am full of chesed and mercy, how much more so must I do chesed with My creations!'" And thus do we find in the holy Zohar, Parshath Emor:

"We learned: 'With the deed below, the deed above is awakened.' If one does something below, the power above is awakened correspondingly. If a man does chesed in the world, chesed is awakened above and reposes on that day and it [the day] is crowned in it for his sake. And if one acts with mercy below, mercy is awakened on that day, and it is crowned with mercy for his sake. And then, that day stands for him to be a shield for him when he needs it, etc. Happy is he who manifests a deed which is kasher below; for he thereby awakens the corresponding force above. With that trait with which one measures, it is measured unto him."

And it [gemiluth chasadim] is one of the three things on which the world stands, as we find in Avoth, Chapter 1: "The world stands on three things: on Torah, on Avodah (the sacrificial service), and on gemiluth chasadim." And it is equivalent to sacrifices. As stated in Avoth d'R. Nathan (4:4): "Whence do we derive this for gemiluth chasadim? It is written (Hoshea 6:6): 'For I desired chesed and not sacrifice.' The world, ab initio, was created only with chesed, as it is written (Psalms 893): "For I said: 'The world will be built through chesed.'" Once, R. Yochanan b. Zakkai went out of Jerusalem and R. Yehoshua went after him and saw the Temple in ruins, at which he said: "Woe unto us, the place where our sins were atoned is in ruins!," at which R. Yochanan responded: "My son, do not despond. We have an atonement equivalent to it. Which? Gemiluth chasadim, as it is written: 'For I desired chesed and not sacrifice!'" (See Succah 49b, to the effect that [according to R. Elazar) charity is greater than sacrifices; how much more so, gemiluth chasadim!)

It [gemiluth chasadim] is greater than the mitzvah of tzedakah [charity], as R. Elazar said (Succah 49b): "Greater is lovingkindness than charity, as it is written (Hoshea 10:12): 'Sow for yourselves by charity; reap by lovingkindness.' If one sows, it is not certain whether or not he will eat; but if he reaps, he will assuredly eat." "The Rabbis taught: 'In three respects, lovingkindess is greater than charity: Charity [is conferred] with one's wealth; lovingkindness — both with one's wealth and one's body. Charity — to the poor; lovingkindness — both to the rich and the poor. Charity — to the living; lovingkindness — both to the living and the dead.'" And it is one of the things, the fruit of which one eats in this world, with the principal remaining for the world to come, as we find in Peah I.

Chazal have said further (Yalkut Tehillim): "Chesed stands up for a man until the end of all the generations, as it is written (Psalms 103.:17): 'And the chesed of the L-rd is from world unto world to those who fear Him, etc.'" And this trait is one of the three goodly traits implanted in Israel — shamefacedness, mercy, and lovingkindness, as Chazal have stated (Yevamoth 79a).

And if one averts his eyes from this mitzvah, his sin is very great. As Rabbeinu Yonah writes (Sha’arei Teshuvah 67) on the verse (Devarim 15:9): "Take heed unto yourself lest there be in your heart a base thing, to say: 'The seventh year has drawn near, the year of shemitah [release], and your eye be evil against your brother the pauper, and he cry out against you to the L-rd, etc." — this is his pure language: "We have hereby been taught that one who refrains from lending to the poor transgresses two negative commandments ("take heed" and "lest"). If we have been exhorted not to desist from lending at the approach of the seventh year for fear of the institution of release, how great must be the sin of one who refrains from lending when there is no danger of his suffering such a loss. Because of the greatness of the transgression, the Torah refers to the thought of one who is averse to lending as 'a base thing.'" And, in Midrash Shir Hashirim: "R. Yehudah says: 'If one denies [the mitzvah of] gemiluth chasadim, it is as if he denies the Deity. But King David, may peace be upon him — what would he do? He would do lovingkindess, with all, etc.'"

Therefore, because of the greatness of this mitzvah, they were accustomed in all the diaspora of Israel to have societies for gemiluth chasadim to lend a man in time of need. Now, in truth, why is this holy society superior to the gemiluth chasadim that one does by himself? For several reasons: There is no comparing many doing a mitzvah to [just] a few doing it, as Chazal have said. And even though, because they are many, his [i.e., each individual's] money does not cover the whole loan but only a [small] part of it, still, it seems clear that the Holy One Blessed be He considers each one as if he alone were the giver of the loan; for without his small amount, the poor man could not secure what he needed. [This is similar to our saying (regarding the forbidden Sabbath labors) (Shabbath 3a): "[Only] one who does the whole labor [is responsible], and not one who does [only] part of it," notwithstanding which if each one by himself cannot carry the load, the Mishnah rules that [each] is responsible. The reason is that this is not called "part" of the labor; for since without him it is impossible for the labor to be done, it is considered as if he himself did the entire labor.] And [(another reason for the superiority of gemiluth chasadim societies)] is that it is a mitzvah which one spends money for and which does not come without expenditure, its reward being far greater because of this, as written in the holy Zohar, Parshath Terumah. Also, the mitzvah [(of the society)] can be performed even when he is at work or sleeping. And aside from all these, it is well known what Midrash Koheleth says, that if a man pines for mitzvoth and has no permanent mitzvah for the generations, what pleasure can he have? But one who has a part in a mitzvah of the many, such as the one we are discussing, or one who leaves over money to support yeshivoth of Torah study — even if he is sitting in Gan Eden there is reposed upon his soul sweetness and light through the mitzvoth that are constantly fulfilled through the monies he left distinctly to this end.

And know, my brother, that the mitzvah of gemiluth chasadim is the highest level of the eight levels of the mitzvah of tzedakah, as Rambam wrote in Hilchoth Matnoth Aniyim 10:7, viz.: "There are eight levels of charity, one above the other. The very highest is supporting a Jew who has fallen [into poverty] and giving him a gift or a loan or entering into partnership with him or providing work for him in order to uphold him so that he need not appeal to people. Concerning this it is written (Vayikra 25:35): 'And you shall uphold him, [even if he be] proselyte or sojourner, and he shall live with you.' That is, so that he does not fall and become dependent upon others." (see Yoreh Deah 249)

And how fitting and right it is to conduct oneself as I have seen done in some holy towns in Israel where there have recently been established a holy society for this purpose, which is called "the support of the fallers," which supports and upholds the fallers so that they not collapse entirely, G-d forbid. And this is what they do: They lend out for a specified amount of time a sum of money as indicated in their regulations and allow the repayment to be made in easy weekly installments. They appoint a man (either gratis or for a wage) from the society who goes each week to collect the monies from the borrowers in such a way that there is almost never any money missing from the fund. Now see how many advantages there are in this arrangement. Aside from fulfilling at the time of the loan the positive commandment of "And you shall uphold him," which is the highest level of the mitzvah of tzedakah, as mentioned above, he further does chesed with the borrower in the manner of repayment. And the formulation of Chazal (Succah 49b) is well known: "R. Elazar said: 'Tzedakah is rewarded only according to the lovingkindness within it."

May the L-rd strengthen our hearts to emulate His chesed so that the greatness of His lovingkindness not depart from us. As Chazal have said (Vayikra Rabbah 36): "If you see the merit of the fathers and the merit of the mothers 'tottering,' cleave to gemiluth chasadim, as it is written (Isaiah 54:10): 'For the mountains will depart and the hills will totter, but My chesed shall not depart from you'" — this is gemiluth chasadim. (Ibid.) 'And the covenant of My peace shall not totter' — this is [i.e., refers to] one who makes peace between a man and his wife and between a man and his neighbor." For this, too, is gemiluth chasadim. And may there be fulfilled in us (Ibid. 14): "With tzedakah will you be established, etc."