The Midrash quotes the pasuk in Tehillim 37:18, Yodea Hashem yemei temimim, “Hashem attends the days of the perfect.” This refers to Sarah Imeinu, who was perfect in her actions. Horav Yeruchem Levovitz, zl, derives from Chazal the concept of, tamim b’maaseh, “acting perfectly.” This means that an activity is carried out in perfect harmony, focused on serving the Almighty. “Everything” means exactly what it implies: every aspect, all of the person’s organs, limbs, working together in perfection to serve Hashem. This was Sarah: tamim b’maasehah, “perfect in her actions.”
The Mashgiach observes that, when Avraham Avinu addressed the needs of his guests, it consisted of one long execution, from the moment he saw them until he accompanied them to the door. Every individual deed was part of one long activity, with each part fusing perfectly with the next component, much like a perfectly synchronized watch, in which each wheel causes the next one to move, so that everything works together in harmony. Avraham wanted to treat them well. This mandated showing respect, by addressing the individuals as adoni, my master. He must provide the choicest cuts of meat and do so quickly, and so on and so forth. What appears to be a separate component is actually all part of one long act of chesed. If one aspect were to be off center, if the meat would not have been perfect, the entire act of chesed would be imperfect. This is the meaning of tamim b’maasim.
Eliezer was sent on a mission to seek a wife for Yitzchak Avinu. Thus, everything that took place from the moment that Eliezer left home until he returned with Rivkah was all considered to be intrinsic to the execution of Eliezer’s mission.
The mission seems to be broken into various segments, but they are actually all components of one long mission. The requirement of temimus, perfection, demands that what seems to be the most minute detail be carried out in exact perfection or else the entire activity is left failing.
Likewise, Rivkah Imeinu merited to become the second Matriarch of Klal Yisrael. She was selected to be Yitzchak’s wife due to her attentiveness to chesed. This does not mean that most of her actions were considerate of others. It demands that every nuance of every action was all perfected in harmony to the highest goals of chesed. From the moment Rivkah appeared on the scene until she met Yitzchak, all that was demonstrated was one lengthy act of kindness.
Rav Yeruchem explains that this principle of tamim b’maaseh is rooted in the attribute of emes, truth. Chesed in its own right does not require sheleimus, perfection. Indeed, whatever kindness one performs is great. Emes, truth, demands perfection. For an act of chesed to achieve spiritual integrity it must achieve total perfection. Chesed v’emes, kindness and truth, do not simply go together, they are one. Chesed must be emes, or else it is not perfect.
