Judaism & Gemilut Chassadim

The virtue of Gemilut Chassadim is so intrinsically a part of Judaism and Jewishness that "if a person exhibits impudence, cruelty, or misanthropy, and does not perform acts of loving-kindness, one should strongly suspect that he is of non-Jewish descent; for Israel, the holy nation, has the three distinctive traits of `modesty, mercy, and loving-kindness' (Yevamot 79a)1."

Moreover, he who busies himself with Torah only, to the exclusion of Gemilut Chassadim, is as though he has no G-d2. Repudiation of Gemilut Chassadim is tantamount to a repudiation of our cardinal doctrine of G-d's existence3. For a repudiation of Gemilut Chassadim is not only a repudiation of Torah, (because it is enjoined by the Torah, and the two are intrinsically related and inseparable), but also of man's status in the world. It infers a denial of Divine creation and the implicit Lordship of G-d over creation, as it was taught: "Give to Him of that which is His own, for you and whatever is yours are His. Thus it is said by David: 'For everything is from You, and from Your own we have given You' (I Chronicles 29:14)4. This Mishnah implies also that when providing for the needy, when performing acts of loving-kindness, it is, as it were, as if one gave to G-d: taking from G-d's bounty entrusted into man's hands and giving it to G-d by way of assisting those in need5.