A question is often asked if acts of kindness should be publicized or anonymous. While both paths have value, our ancestor Rivka performs a small act that gives us insight into how publicizing kindness can be contagious. When Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, goes to search for a wife for Isaac, he sees Rivka carrying a pitcher of water upon her shoulder.
Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz notes that how she carried the pitcher matters. While others would hide the pitcher to avoid the bother of lending other pitchers out, she publicizes the fact that she had a pitcher so that others may ask to borrow it.
The Talmud tells us the custom in Ancient Jerusalem that a cloth would be placed outside the door of a home to indicate that strangers are welcome to come inside for a meal.
During this last year, we have all witnessed the publicizing of kindness. From thousands of miles away, we have individually helped our brothers and sisters in Israel, but we have also encouraged each other to do so as well. Each day, the Flesh Family Sinai Temple Israel Center receives calls to be a convening space of doing exactly that.
Last Sunday at the JNF-USA Global Conference for Israel, I witnessed our community carrying “Rivka’s pitcher of water” on our shoulders.
Ofir Engel was an 18-year-old from Jerusalem when he was visiting his girlfriend, Yuval, at Kibbutz Be’eri. A few hours later, he was taken hostage by Hamas, along with Yuval’s father and uncle.
For 54 days, he was held captive.
Today, he shares his story with the world, both in person and through a virtual reality experience created by the organization Israel-Is. Today, Ofir is carrying Rivka’s pitcher. I watched as he told his story to our Beren Scholars Program, 11th and 12th graders and their families, children who are the same age as Ofir. As he shared Rivka’s pitcher with us, it was apparent that all present were ready to borrow his pitcher and share it with others.
The small acts of kindness that our ancestors performed still continue today. The format may look different, but the essence is the same.
