Eliezer’s declaration of gratitude concerning the chesed, kindness, he received is understandable. He arrived in Aram Naharaim for the purpose of finding a wife for Yitzchak Avinu, and he immediately met Rivkah, the perfect candidate. Where does emes, truth, enter into the equation? Horav Chaim Mordechai Katz, zl, explains that, indeed, the concept of chesed is complex. It is possible that a person who offers assistance possesses a kind and generous heart. It is also possible, however, that this person, despite all his kindness, does not.
For example, a person may demonstrate kindness which actually stems from egotism. This type of kindness touches a very personal subjective place in his heart, one that arises from human empathy or from a psychological need to feel needed. This may be chesed, but it is not chesed l’amito. True chesed emanates from the Divine source of chesed, which is the middah, attribute, of truth, a trait aligned with Hashem’s own middah of emes. True chesed is not merely an emotional or psychological response; it is a G-dly expression that transcends human emotion and attachment. It is real in that it is rooted in the world of truth.
The Torah’s concept of chesed does not distinguish between chesed and emes as two different character traits, but actually, chesed can be an act, emotional or even compassionate, but still not be true chesed. True chesed however, does not have drama – just pure kindness without all the embellishment and attention. It is authentic. If one’s inner emotions are skewed, even if externally he manifests all the correct emotions, it still is no indication that this act of beneficence is aligned with truth.
Eliezer recognized that he was the beneficiary of the real thing – chesed l’amito, chesed that emerges from a place of truth. This is what Rivkah Imeinu represented: not just a nice, kind girl, but one whose soul was rooted in the genuine essence of kindness and truth, as embedded by the Divine in the neshamah of a Jew from the very moment of Creation. Chesed is measured by how distant it is from human emotion, how concealed it is from the eye, how refined and quiet it is in practice, and, yes, how great it is in spiritual stature.
The purpose of this dvar Torah is not to look askance at the numerous acts of chesed which the members of the Jewish community perform, but to distinguish between the emotional versus the essential. They both benefit the recipient, but only one is rooted in the soul.
