D'var Torah

Volunteers of the Year – Anything but Random!

“Olam Chesed Yiboneh”- “The world will be built through kindness.” (Tehillim 89).

This is not just hyperbole, but a description of the Jewish view on life. We are charged to behave b’tzelem Elohim, to follow G-d’s lead in all we do. Just as G-d built this world out of kindness, not necessity, so too must we. Those special people who take every opportunity to pursue acts of chesed and volunteer their time, skill and energy to help improve institutions and more importantly, the lives of the constituents which those organizations look to impact, are actually building worlds! And this is not something to take lightly.

As such, I do not subscribe to the concept of “random acts of kindness.” While on the surface it might sound wonderful, in reality, anything we do that really matters should never be done randomly. If one’s pursuit in life is business, one spends years perfecting his business acumen and invests inordinate amounts of time in work. An athlete aligns what she eats, her practice schedule and even her sleep patterns in order to excel in her sport. Musical virtuosos won’t just fit in practice when they have time or are in the mood, but will regiment their lives to be in concert with their goals. 

So too our volunteers. These outstanding individuals are outstanding precisely because their volunteerism and acts of chesed are anything but random. They have been chosen because their outlook on life is about proper priorities. They don’t place work first and only randomly try to fit in a few good things for our community and our people in their spare time. Rather, they realize that the value of their time is measured by what they contribute to others, and that they need to go to work on the side to ensure that they can still make a living. Work is complementary to their acts of chesed. 

For that reason, they truly embody the charge for imitatio dei! May they be granted with all that they need to keep doing the important work they do and continue building worlds!

Rabbi Rafi Lipner,

Rabbi of Shaarei Tefillah and Executive Director of The House