Based on the writings of Rav Yitzchok Hutner (1906-1980) and summarized from Rabbi Pinchas Stolper's "Living Beyond Time: The Mystery and Meaning of the Jewish Festivals" (Shaar Press, 2003, pp. 92-97)
The definition of Chessed (loving kindness) is altruistic love that needs to be expressed. The purpose of Creation was to give God an avenue through which to shower His love. God's quality of Chessed was and is the basic ingredient in the creation of the universe. When we educate ourselves in the laws of Chessed and emulate God's quality of Chessed we deepen our awareness that we are created in His image.
The Talmud in Tractate Avoda Zara teaches that "a person who does not engage in acts of Chessed (loving kindness) is regarded as someone who does not have a God." Without Chessed there could not have been Creation and without Man perforforming acts of Chessed there is no place in the world for the Creator because by not doing Chessed it in effect banishes God from the world.
Our responsibility as human beings and as Jews is to identify with God who is the fountain of Chessed, by imitating Him through the performance of acts of Chessed. Thus, Chessed is a major obligation of each human being.
Our forefather Abraham, the founder of the Jewish People, who came to be known as the Pillar of Chessed (Amud HaChessed), was the first person in history to understand that God created the world with the Divine Attribute of Chessed and that therefore it is innately our obligation to emulate this Godly quality.
Abraham realized that there was a Master Builder who built a world that was the product of God's Chessed and that it was God's intention to bestow love and kindness on His creation. Abraham understood that in order to identify with God the Creator of all, that he (Abraham) and his descendants the Children of Israel/Jewish People and all who would learn from them would need to emulate God's fundamental quality of Chessed (loving kindness). That is why Abraham practiced Hachnasat Orchim, welcoming strangers into his own home and asked God to save the wicked city of Sodom in the merit of any righteous people in it, all acts of Chessed by Abraham in emulation of God's ways.
The Jewish People as the true descendants of Abraham, observe Chessed as a COVENANT between God and Abraham. The Talmud in Kesubot teaches "Our brethren who bestow love and kindness are children of a People who bestow love and kindness." We remain loyal to God's Covenant with Abraham when we follow God's path of Chessed.
We celebrate Creation and thank God for creating the universe every day. In addition to which we celebrate Rosh Hashanah as a special holy day that celebrates Creation. With the creation by God of Adam and Eve on Rosh Hashanah Creation itself was completed. God created Adam and Eve, the ancestors of humankind, so as to have the capacity to shower upon humankind God's love because love can only exist if there is a beloved and Humanity is God's beloved.
God as the Creator and His Creation are honored each day by people performing acts of Chessed (loving kindness). Therefore in preparation for Rosh Hashanah we must help the needy as the prophet Nehemiah (8) instructed the Jews prior to Rosh Hashanah when he said "send gifts to the poor!" Nehemiah teaches that acts of Chessed such as helping the needy are integral to the observance of Rosh Hashanah as no enjoyment or celebration can be truly complete without acts of giving and sharing.
That is why there is the custom of giving and collecting so much Tzedaka (charity) before and after Rosh Hashanah and why we say in the high holy days prayers "Teshuva, Tefillah uTzedakah Ma'avirin Et Roah HaGezeirah" ("Repentance, Prayer, Charity remove the evil [of the] decree"!)
Deeds of Chessed honor the holiness of Rosh Hashanah because when Chessed penetrates the human mind and heart it becomes the bedrock of the human personality. Then with every act of Chessed by a person his human soul recreates the Universe in partnership with God. This is why acts of Chessed are especially important during the season of Rosh Hashanah which is the holiday commemorating Creation, the greatest act of initial Chessed by God.
Chessed extends beyond the season of Rosh Hashanah into every aspect of our lives and to all the Jewish holy days. For example: We are commanded to invite the needy to our Sedarim on Passover and to give Maos Chitin ("money [for the] wheat" to buy Matzo); we are instructed to send gifts, especially of money, to the poor on Purim; we are told by the Torah to be charitable to orphans and widows; in general, to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated when facing hurdles in life.
Rosh Hashanah is unique in that unlike the other Jewish holy days that celebrate events that took place after the Creation, Rosh HaShanah is the one exception! Rosh Hashanah serves to remind us of our responsibilities to God who is both our Creator and our King. Our obligations are to heighten and raise the honor of God the Creator of Creation regarding the mysteries of the universe which are beyond our understanding and also to increase the authority of God the King, who accepts us as his subjects, regarding the revealed aspects of events that took place after the Creation of the world and the universe.
Ultimately, the mystical and concealed aspects of Creation are central to Rosh Hashanah. The rays of spiritual light that come to us on Rosh Hashanah are both mysterious and unfathomable to humankind. The spiritual lights of Rosh Hashanah reveal that "the glory of God is found in the hidden" ('Kevod HaShem Haster Davar"). Everything that deals with coming into being contains elements of the original Creation by God and in turn everything that relates to Creation is by its nature concealed and hidden from humankind!
Whether speaking of Torah or of human events, the glory of God the Creator is to be found in those mystical events that are hidden. Rosh Hashanah is the only Jewish holy day that celebrates God's concealed creativity. Even though as human beings we are incapable of understanding the mysteries of Creation we can and should celebrate and absorb the great spiritual lights that shine forth from Creation especially to be felt on Rosh Hashanah.
Rosh Hashanah, which celebrates the creation of humankind, is the holy day of God's concealed light. Through God's covenant of Chessed with Abraham, the Jewish People as the true descendants of Abraham join with God in continually renewing and recreating the world and the universe. When humanity, and in particular the Jewish People, emulate God by performing acts of Chessed (loving kindness) and by partnering with God through acts of Chessed we elevate, refine and sanctify our lives and the lives of others around us.
Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin was born to Holocaust survivor parents in Israel, grew up in South Africa, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alumnus of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and of Teachers College-Columbia University. He heads the Jewish Professionals Institute dedicated to Jewish Adult Education and Outreach - Kiruv Rechokim and was the Director of the Belzer Chasidim's Sinai Heritage Center of Manhattan 1988-1995, a Trustee of AJOP 1994-1997 and founder of American Friends of South African Jewish Education 1995-2015. He is the author of The Second World War and Jewish Education in America: The Fall and Rise of Orthodoxy. Contact Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin at izakrudomin@gmail.com
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