Terri D Singer
Hello. This is your friend Rabbi Paysach Krohn speaking to you about the importance of doing a chessed today and doing a chessed every day.
The recent passing of the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Yosef Rosenblum, brought to mind a Gemara that I had the zchus to discuss with him. And he told me a very interesting meforash on that Gemara which I would like to discuss with all of you today. The Gemara in Bava Kama, Tzaddik-beis, amud beis, tells us, "Bira dishasis minei"-A well that you drank from, "Lo tishta bei kala"- Do not throw a rock in it.
In other words, even an inanimate object, you have to have derech eretz for it in a way, you have to have chessed or hakaras hatov and show it recognition. If you drank from the well, don't throw a rock in it.
And he showed me that the Shita Mekubetzes brings on that Gemara a story that the Rif, Rav Yitzchok Alfasi, had once been ill and he had a neighbor who had him come to his home and he used a certain bath, like a jacuzzi. And later, a couple of years later, this fellow who owned that bath had to sell it and he wanted to have the Rif evaluate it. But the Rif said, I can't evaluate it, because if I under-evaluate it, that, in a sense, would be a lack of hakaras hatov, that would be a lack of derech eretz, because I gained from it and I was healed because of it.
So we see something very interesting, that even for inanimate objects, you have to have a derech eretz, you have to do a chessed with it, you have to treat it nicely. And so, therefore, I feel that's why even our siddurim, our chumashim, don't just leave it around, put it back on the shelf the way it belongs, keep it neat. Because, after all, you do owe it hakaras hatov. You have show a chessed to a sefer. And maybe that's why we should not throw our clothes on the floor as well either, because when you throw it on the floor, there's like a certain disregard. You feel good about the clothes that you wear. We all choose our clothes. We feel that it defines us in a certain way.
And so, therefore, there has to be a certain derech eretz, a chessed the way we deal with clothes, the way we deal with inanimate objects.
And I'll tell you something, maybe I'm a little embarrassed to tell it to you, but I'm going to tell it to you any way because I felt because of this Gemara and this concept.
You know, when I was much younger, I always used to play basketball and I loved playing sports. And so, therefore, for years, any time I had to throw a piece of paper in the garbage, I just didn't throw it plain. You know, I would go five feet away from the garbage can, and, you know, flip it in and see if I could get it in. And of course, if my children and grandchildren were around, I made sure to do it to show them how great I still was in basketball.
But, you know, here's the embarrassing thing. You know, in my kitchen, my sink is about, I don't know, five, six feet away from the kitchen table. And many times, you know, when I finished with a fork or a spoon you want to put it into the sink. So sometimes I used to flip it the five or six feet and see if I could get into the sink or not, again, that basketball shot. But then it occurred to me, you know, that's not right. A piece of paper, you want to flip into a garbage pail and see if you're a good basketball player, that's one thing. But you can't do that with a fork or a knife or a spoon because, after all, they are serving you, in a sense. That's like that jacuzzi that served the Rif or the siddur that serves you.
So now I don't do that anymore. You know if you have to put a -- I never threw a plate -- but even a spoon or a fork, and I'll tell you the truth, even a plastic spoon or fork, you don't flip it into a garbage pail, because it's something, it's a utensil that you used. There's a certain derech eretz, there's a certain hakaras hatov, there's a certain chessed that you have to do for things that are even inanimate.
And I'll tell you this thing, it's amazing. Do you know, Reb Mordechai Schwab's son told me, this is amazing, that when he finished wearing a suit, he just didn't throw it out, but rather he would wrap it up nicely and he would keep it in a drawer. And then after a few months he would take it and he would say to the suit -- I mean, I'm not telling you to talk to your suit, please -- but I'm just telling you, this tzaddik, what he did, he said in Yiddish, "Du hust mi good badint"-You served me well. And then when it was wrapped, then he would put it out to the trash and then got rid of it. But he didn't get rid of it right away, and he spoke to it and he said thank you.
So let's do that chessed even to inanimate objects. Have a great day.
In other words, even an inanimate object, you have to have derech eretz for it in a way, you have to have chessed or hakaras hatov and show it recognition. If you drank from the well, don't throw a rock in it.
And he showed me that the Shita Mekubetzes brings on that Gemara a story that the Rif, Rav Yitzchok Alfasi, had once been ill and he had a neighbor who had him come to his home and he used a certain bath, like a jacuzzi. And later, a couple of years later, this fellow who owned that bath had to sell it and he wanted to have the Rif evaluate it. But the Rif said, I can't evaluate it, because if I under-evaluate it, that, in a sense, would be a lack of hakaras hatov, that would be a lack of derech eretz, because I gained from it and I was healed because of it.
So we see something very interesting, that even for inanimate objects, you have to have a derech eretz, you have to do a chessed with it, you have to treat it nicely. And so, therefore, I feel that's why even our siddurim, our chumashim, don't just leave it around, put it back on the shelf the way it belongs, keep it neat. Because, after all, you do owe it hakaras hatov. You have show a chessed to a sefer. And maybe that's why we should not throw our clothes on the floor as well either, because when you throw it on the floor, there's like a certain disregard. You feel good about the clothes that you wear. We all choose our clothes. We feel that it defines us in a certain way.
And so, therefore, there has to be a certain derech eretz, a chessed the way we deal with clothes, the way we deal with inanimate objects.
And I'll tell you something, maybe I'm a little embarrassed to tell it to you, but I'm going to tell it to you any way because I felt because of this Gemara and this concept.
You know, when I was much younger, I always used to play basketball and I loved playing sports. And so, therefore, for years, any time I had to throw a piece of paper in the garbage, I just didn't throw it plain. You know, I would go five feet away from the garbage can, and, you know, flip it in and see if I could get it in. And of course, if my children and grandchildren were around, I made sure to do it to show them how great I still was in basketball.
But, you know, here's the embarrassing thing. You know, in my kitchen, my sink is about, I don't know, five, six feet away from the kitchen table. And many times, you know, when I finished with a fork or a spoon you want to put it into the sink. So sometimes I used to flip it the five or six feet and see if I could get into the sink or not, again, that basketball shot. But then it occurred to me, you know, that's not right. A piece of paper, you want to flip into a garbage pail and see if you're a good basketball player, that's one thing. But you can't do that with a fork or a knife or a spoon because, after all, they are serving you, in a sense. That's like that jacuzzi that served the Rif or the siddur that serves you.
So now I don't do that anymore. You know if you have to put a -- I never threw a plate -- but even a spoon or a fork, and I'll tell you the truth, even a plastic spoon or fork, you don't flip it into a garbage pail, because it's something, it's a utensil that you used. There's a certain derech eretz, there's a certain hakaras hatov, there's a certain chessed that you have to do for things that are even inanimate.
And I'll tell you this thing, it's amazing. Do you know, Reb Mordechai Schwab's son told me, this is amazing, that when he finished wearing a suit, he just didn't throw it out, but rather he would wrap it up nicely and he would keep it in a drawer. And then after a few months he would take it and he would say to the suit -- I mean, I'm not telling you to talk to your suit, please -- but I'm just telling you, this tzaddik, what he did, he said in Yiddish, "Du hust mi good badint"-You served me well. And then when it was wrapped, then he would put it out to the trash and then got rid of it. But he didn't get rid of it right away, and he spoke to it and he said thank you.
So let's do that chessed even to inanimate objects. Have a great day.
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