The Problem with Random Acts of Kindness

A friend of mine once gave me a bumper sticker that says:

“Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”
Practice Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty

At the time I saw it as an inspirational message. But the more I learned about Judaism, the more this bumper sticker bothered me.

I found a response to “random acts of kindness” that expresses my thoughts exactly (source: Aish.com)

For what our society needs more of is not random kindness, but sustained and dependable kindness…Of course a random kindness is better than no kindness at all. But it is the ethical equivalent of sitting down at the piano to bang out “Chopsticks”: quick, easy, and not very serious.

Not only does human society require “sustained and dependable” kindness - as opposed to random kindness - but an individual person who wishes to grow spiritually cannot grow from doing random kindness alone. You can’t grow a house plant if you water it at random intervals - it just won’t grow.

However, for the individual who wishes to grow spiritually - to refine his or her character - there is value in doing random acts of kindness of you do them often.

A great rabbi (I can’t remember if it was the Rambam or Rashi) answers the age old question:

Is it better to give $1,000 in charity to one person or $1 in charity to 1,000 different people?

He answers (in my own words):
Better to give $1 to one thousand people; for after giving charity 1,000 times, a person is completely transformed.

My own experience in performing random acts of kindness, is that they can lead a person to make kindness a habitual part of his life. And if that will make people more like Hashem, Whose kindness has no end, G-d bless them.

I would just note that Hashem has a greater “record” of sustained and dependable kindness compared to His “record” of R.A.K.

(I don’t even know if you could say that Hashem does R.A.K. - that’s how dependable His kindness is!)

Think about it.

P.S. Thought - I think the recent surge in random acts of kindness as a cultural trend is rooted in a global desire by good people to counter the destructive “random acts of terror” that plague our planet today. It sure feels more effective than writing letters to Congress (which is also important).

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