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Thought for the Day: The Reward for Being a Mensch? Way More Amazing Than You Thought

Some time ago I wrote a TftD about a Chazal (Brachos 5b/6a) saying that if a person doesn't wait for another Jew to finish davening ma'ariv, then they rip up his prayers in his face. Sounds a bit over the top, but I am asking HaShem to do stuff for me that I certainly don't deserve. Apparently that comes with some strings attached. Cool. What shocked me, though, was that Chazal were then quite effusive about how much reward one receives for waiting a few minutes. Here's how I expressed my shock:

Honestly, I am thinking that not having my prayers ripped to shreds in my face and not being guilty of causing the Divine Presence to be removed from the Jewish people ought to be plenty of motivation... Since when do I expect some grand reward just for acting with normal human decency?

I didn't find any good answers, and I still had the question. Then I ran into another Chazal, just 12 daf later (18a) that uses the expression of "?מַה שְּׂכָרוֹ" and waxes effusive about the tremendous reward. In this case, the topic is seeing a funeral procession. If a person doesn't bother to escort the body for a few steps, then he transgresses because of the verse in Mishlei, "One who mocks a pauper insults his Maker" (17:5). Yikes! All he did was carry on with his busy day. Yet that is called mocking the pauper. (Rashi explains that there is no one more impoverished than a corpse.) Chazal then add, but if he does escort the body מַה שְּׂכָרוֹ/what is his reward? The following verse applies to him, "One who is gracious to the poor has lent to HaShem." That is, the poor person to whom you have been gracious can't pay you back, but HaShem will make good on the debt.

Again, failing at normal human decency seems to incur a pretty big penalty, while just being a mensch is over the top. This question doesn't seem to bother people as much as it bothers me. I was surprised by that, but then I realized that I was looking at this question like, "If you run a red light, you incur a $100 fine." No one would say, "but if you obey the traffic laws... wow! what an amazing reward you get!"

That's an incorrect perspective. A young man who recently lost his grandmother was talking about the impression she had made on his life. The last few years of her life, she bad been blind. The young man had asked her how she kept her bright outlook on life. She said, "I am still here, so that means HaShem still wants me here to accomplish something. Apparently whatever job I have here does not require vision."

That is a beautiful outlook; and true! But let's process that. This world in not a "happening." Any situation in which I find myself has been tailor made for me, and I have been given exactly the tools I need to utilize this experience for my perfection. Suppose I find myself alone with someone who is finishing ma'ariv or I see a funeral procession. If my only thought is, "I have better uses for my time than waiting for this guy or escorting that guy." -- then I have not only missed an opportunity,  I missed the opportunity for which this moment was created.

I have actually failed to appreciate why I am alive in this world at all. I have literally "killed time", and thereby murdered a part of my eternal self.

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