Kindness Hacks from Vaetchanan

An elderly widow, grief stricken and struggling after losing her husband discovered that she would have to be quarantined for Pesach due the Coronavirus pandemic. She couldn’t believe that she could not be able to at least spend Pesach with her children like in previous years, and would be completely on her own.

She was inconsolable.

One of her neighbours found out about her distress and explained that since their flats are near each other; the family would happily move their dining room table next to her open window to have the Seder, so that she could safely join them.

When the first days were over, the woman called her children, bubbling over with joy, and relating that the family had even had the same customs and tunes as her late husband!

Little did she know that they had called up her children prior to Pesach to find out her family’s customs, and had run the Seder accordingly!

It wasn’t enough for them to ‘just’ move their entire table to her, but they even researched and ran it differently to ensure that their elderly neighbour would have the best possible experience!

Throughout this weeks Parsha we find different commands regarding observing different laws in the Torah.

Towards the end, we are told ‘And you shall do that which is right and good in the eyes of the L-rd' (Devarim 6:18)

Knowing that the Torah does not contain unnecessary material; what new instruction does this verse add?

Rashi and Rambam explain that doing ‘right and good’ means going above and beyond the letter of the law, in serving G-d, and in aiding one’s fellow man.

Doing more than the minimum shows that it is more than just a duty and that the person really and truly cares.

A valuable message to keep in mind when we do acts of kindness.

We can do the basics, or we can go that bit further.

Always ask the question - What more can i do to bring an extra smile to the persons face?
And as they say... ‘Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded!’

Shabbat Shalom