Good Heart & Good Actions-Where Does It All Start?

   Good Actions Refine the Heart

Rabbi Yeheskel Lebovic

Cong. Ahavath Zion Maplewood

Good Actions …

Miriam, our Spanish-speaking cleaning lady , is often approached by strangers for some “charity hand-outs”.  She related how she was recently thusly  approached, while waiting for her bus, by a lady asking for $1.  Usually suspecting that the money might be used to buy drugs, she asked her what she needed the money for.  “Actually, the other one said, I need $2 because I haven’t eaten in a long time”.  Hearing that, Miriam took her into the pizza store near the bus stop, and bought her food and drink.   This caused Miriam to miss  her bus and loose precious time. In effect, she went out of her way to help a fellow human being. We live in a fast-paced, narcissistic society and many of us wouldn’t have acted in the same manner.

…Depend on a Good Heart?

Miriam happens to be a very kind-hearted individual, always seeking ways to help people who come her way.  I believe that the reverse is also possible: Forcing oneself to do good actions will eventually refine one’s heart.  The reason is that man is endowed with intellect which has, through protracted attention, the ability to direct the flow of emotions and feelings. Hence, a person can make the intellectual decision to engage in kind actions—even if initially bereft of kind feelings—resulting, after time, in one’s heart becoming softer and kinder, and then resulting  in many more kind actions now  heart-felt.

A Story

When Napoleon invaded Russia, he was opposed by one of the Chassidic rabbis who instructed one of his multi-linguist followers, Moshe, to help the Russian Army.  Moshe thus became a double agent: the French thought he was their spy while in truth he was a double agent for the Russians.  Napoleon did not like the way the war was going, with the Russian seeming to know the French strategy ahead of time, and he suspected some treachery.  One day, all the French generals were assembled in a big tent, going over their planned course of action, with Moshe in the background.  Suddenly, Napoleon walks in and looks around.  He sees Moshe the Jew, dressed like a Jew of that era, and yells: “what is this Jew doing here—que fait ce Juif ici?!” One of the general says: “Oh, he is our spy, a very good one at that”  Napoleon then walks over and puts his hand on Moshe’s heart but…it didn’t skip a beat nor increase its beat!  When asked later how he managed this feat, Moshe explained that he taught himself to have his intellect rule his heart and its emotions. (Did you hear about the Manhattan woman who was smoking in front of her place after midnight and was threatened by two thugs, one holding a gun to her head, warning “Give me your money or I shoot!”.  To which she reacted:” You don’t have the guts to shoot me!” and….they left sheepishly. In this case, we don’t know how fast her heart was beating…)

This is indeed is perhaps not within everyone’s range.  But forcing oneself to periodically go out of one’s way, even if I don’t feel like it and even if I’m pressed for time—this indeed is within everyone’s reach! 

If  Maplewood’s 23,897 inhabitants would apply themselves in this direction, it would become an even fairer town!