Hashem is your keeper; Hashem is your shadow upon your right hand. (Psalms 121: 5)

Hashem acts with us midah kneged midah - measure for measure. Like the shadow of your hand, which follows the movements of your hand perfectly. When we are kind, Hashem does us kindness. When we act strictly, and harshly with others…r”l.

This can be observed in great matters, and in small matters. I have a small matter to share:

The other day we had a repairman working on our house around 10:00pm. He worked really hard, and still had another home to work on before he could go back to his home for the night.

So before the repairman left, I made him some pizza on challah bread and gave him a slice of watermelon. He was very grateful.

I was happy to do a chesed (a kindness), which is it’s own reward.

But the next day, a family from our synagogue baked us a homemade pizza from scratch! (because my dad was in an accident, so they wanted to do a chesed for us)

Hashem tzilcha al yad yeminecha - Hashem is your shadow of your right hand.

Here’s a mind-blowing story about Rabbi Lawrence Kelemen that blows reciprocal pizza dinners out of the water:

We Are Never Alone (stream)
We Are Never Alone (download)

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

At the time I saw it as an inspirational message. But the more I thought about it, the more this bumper sticker caused questions in my mind.

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 the next step after 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 if you do them often. That is to say regularly.

How so?

The great sage, Rabbi Moses Maimonides, 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 that is the ultimate goal.

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

Think about it.

1. Designate time at an Old Folks Home
2. Do regular Neighborhood Cleanup
3. Volunteer as a Neighborhood Guardian
4. Volunteer as a Big Brother/Sister
5. Teach Skills for People returning to the Job Market
6. Visit/Call your grandparents every week

1. Leave a Thank You note for the mailman in your mailbox
2. Offer free hugs
   
3. Add money to someone’s parking meter
4. Leave a tip for the flight attendant(s) in the seat-pocket
5. Cut flowers from your garden and leave them in a “Free Flowers” bucket out front
6. After purchasing your groceries, place the coupons from your grocery receipts into the grocery carts on the wait out

Recently on CNN:

Video found on GoodNewsNetwork.org