Generosity of Spirit in 3 Acts רוח נדיבה

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg always carries a stack of single dollar bills when he walks through the city. This enables him to be able to give one dollar to each person on the street who asks for money. One might question Rabbi Greenberg’s behavior on a number of levels. If you know him or are familiar with his teachings and his work, you will know that Rabbi Greenberg has had a tremendous impact upon our Jewish community. He has worked for change, and brought it about on a much larger scale than the impact of giving a single dollar to a person begging on the street. So why does he do it?

We see a version of this question in the world of politics. And don’t worry, we will come back to Rabbi Greenberg in a little bit. In the world of politics, politicians of all stripes have taken to rejecting incremental change that would involve reaching across the aisle, instead touting magic bullet solutions that are unlikely to ever happen. How many times do we hear a version of  “It takes big ideas to solve big problems!”

Everyone can agree that big changes are needed on a number of issues; health care, immigration, infrastructure, gun violence. Too many politicians focus, however, on the “one solution” to the problem that will fix everything. We hear politicians say a version of this all of the time. They speak about issues in this way because while it doesn’t get things done, it is effective with voters. It reflects our desire for the big fix, the one thing that can happen so that we can go back to life and not worry about the problem anymore.

Our culture focuses on the big solution. We obsess about the Manhattan projects of our day, and forget that it was the ground troops, the sailors, Marines and pilots who turned back the tide of tyranny in the East and in the West one day at a time. Our language tells the same story. In baseball, a team that wins with “home runs” has power. A team that wins by executing at a high level and taking advantage of every opportunity is playing “small ball.” We focus on the big fix and ignore the incremental changes that make a difference day in and day out.

Working on the day-to-day changes is a lot less appealing. Not only does it require us to accept, or at least behave, as if we might not be right all of the time. It also recognizes that solutions are not found in one grand gesture or one raw expression of power. Most of our problems don’t call for an atomic bomb or a grand slam, most call for solutions that are found and, then, found again each day.

This is true on every level of life– from the White House to our own house. It works the same in the intimacy of our family home. When a parent wants a child to limit their screen time, one big solution is not going to cut it. There is no magical decree that will be effective. Demonizing our child’s behavior certainly won’t work either. Helping them change requires the dedication of holding them accountable each and every day. It will also be more effective if you have the generosity of spirit to see things from their perspective, even as, or especially as, you try to influence it.

And this is where we return to Rabbi Greenberg giving out one dollar to every person begging on the streets. Here he models a personal generosity, even as he also works to bring about large, systemic changes as well.  His behavior exemplifies a teaching of Maimonides on Tzedakah:

Thinking about the two sides of the Tzedakah equation, with the giver and the total amount given on one side of the equation and the number of recipients and the total received on the other, Rambam poses a question. Let’s say you have $10,000 to give away. Is it best to give the $10,000 to one person? To give the money in a manner that might bring about systemic change, at least for that one person? Or would it be better to split that money up and instead of giving $10,000 to one person, give $10 to one thousand people? Is it better to give to many more people, even if the amount given won’t have the same impact?

Rambam teaches us that all other things being equal, if we have$10,000, it is better to give $10 each to one thousand people than to give it all to one person. Usually when we think about Rambam’s teachings on Tzedakah, we think of his instruction that it is best to give in a manner that helps a person become self-sufficient. In this teaching, Rambam is thinking about the other side of the equation. He is considering the impact of the act of giving upon the giver.

Here he teaches us that  we will be impacted  more by engaging in one thousand acts of kindness than engaging in just one. By performing one thousand acts of kindness, we become more generous, more compassionate, and more connected to the world around us. It’s not just about changing others’ lives; it’s about transforming our own.

And Maimonides didn’t make this up. His teaching is founded upon the words of Rabbi Elazar in the Babylonian Talmud Masekhet Sukkah on page 49a.

וְאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: אֵין צְדָקָה מִשְׁתַּלֶּמֶת אֶלָּא לְפִי חֶסֶד שֶׁבָּהּ –

And Rabbi Elazar said: The benefit received from giving Tzedakah is in accordance with the kindness by which it was given. It is not merely in accordance with the sum of money, as it is stated: “Sow according to Tzedakah/Charity, and reap according to Hesed/kindness.” Hoshea 10:14

We sow according to our Tzedakah – righteous giving, and we reap according to our Hesed, our loving kindness. Rabbi Elazar is teaching us that, giving frequently, even a smaller amount, when done in a manner full of love and grace, will change our attitudes. The habit of giving with Hesed in our hearts on a regular basis will lead us to be more generous and to have a more generous spirit. To build a more just and kind society, the rabbis want us to cultivate a deepened spirit of generosity in our Neshamot, in our souls.

Rambam and the Rabbis recognized a long time ago a truth about human nature that the field of social psychology has only recognized through experimentation in the past decades – namely, that we can shape our attitudes by changing our habits. That what we do has a direct impact upon who we are. Often we think the opposite. We think that the love we have for a newborn child will lead us to sacrifice sleep, money, and self respect to care for them. And it does. But hat love grows even deeper and stronger through the many acts of sacrifice and care we give them over the years. Our behaviors, repeated again and again, help shape our attitudes.

Rabbi Greenberg does work for big solutions. But he also tends to the generosity in his soul. Maimonides teaches us that both sides of the Tzedakah equation are important. In this teaching, he wants us to think about the impact that our giving has upon ourselves.  We should ask ourselves if we are engaging in this work in a manner that helps us build a larger reservoir of generosity in our souls? Or do we write a big check and then go on about our lives?

Writing the big check may make a greater difference in the life of that one person or organization. In these examples Rabbi Elazar, Rambam and Rabbi Greenberg are concerned with a bigger problem–. how to change the world and  how to solve those big problems that I spoke about at the beginning of this sermon. Giving the smaller gifts on a very regular basis will help us develop a generosity of spirit that will better equip us to tackle those giant challenges. Not by giving away the store, so to speak. But by seeing the world and one another, even people on the other side of the aisle, from a more generous perspective.

I am going to share with you a story that will bring to life this spirit of generosity of which the Rabbis and social psychology speak. Forgive me that it comes from the Red Sox I’ll ask for Selichah on Yom Kippur. If even the hardest Yankees fan is not moved by this story, then we should set up some time for counseling after the holiday.

Triston Casas, a highly-touted Red Sox prospect and power-hitting first baseman, steadily progressed through the ranks. His final hurdle was the Major Leagues—a leap many fail to make. In early September, two years ago, Casas got his shot, hitting his first Major League home run in Tampa Bay. But the real story began when that ball landed in the stands.

Jordan Blatner, a Chicago White Sox fan living in Orlando, made his first trip across Florida to catch a Tampa Bay game on Sunday. Enjoying it very much, he returned on Tuesday for the Red Sox game. Sitting in the outfield, distracted by his dropped phone, he was startled by the crack of the bat—only to suddenly find the ball in his hand.

Tampa Bay fans urged Jordan to throw the Red Sox home run ball back in protest, but he refused. Soon after, he learned it was Triston Casas’ first MLB home run. Without hesitation, Jordan handed the ball over to the team so that Casas could keep the special memento.

After the ball found its way back to the Red Sox dugout, Casas signed a bat and a different ball and sent them to Blatner as a thank you. Then, two stars of the Red Sox, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, signed their own gear and sent it to Blatner as well to say thank you for his generous spirit. And even though he roots for a different team and was sitting in the stands of the Red Sox’ opponents, White Sox fan Jordan Blatner didn’t let his circumstances impact the generosity in his heart. And he certainly went home with a lot more than he ever expected.

But the story gets even better. After the game, when the ball was back in his possession, Tristan Casas gave the ball away. He gave that landmark ball to his dad.  As it happens, his father, Jose, had been at the game and witnessed this incredible moment.  Later, Tristan told a reporter “It was a really special moment, something we have been thinking about for a really long time. Growing up, I obviously wanted to be a Major League baseball player. Hitting your first Major League home run, I shared that moment with him, gave him a hug. He got pretty emotional after I gave it to him. Hopefully, this is the first of many.”

Tristan knew that while he was the one who hit that ball out of the park, the ball in fact “belonged” to someone else, his father, Jose, who had dreamed of that moment alongside his son for years and supported his son on a very challenging and unlikely journey.

Now, I recognize that there is a limit to the moral virtue one should ascribe to most anything that happens in a Major League ballpark. This story didn’t happen in a war zone, or a hospital ward. I am not describing a tech millionaire who gave it all up to teach math in a public school. But that is not the type of generosity that the Rabbis we studied earlier were speaking about. I am not speaking  about the generosity of the big moment, or of the $10,000 gift in the example from earlier. Instead I am speaking about a generosity of spirit that can accompany every step we take.

In that ballpark we had three independent acts, each performed with a generosity of spirit – רוח נדיבה – that led to the beautiful and poignant moment of Tristan giving his first homerun ball to his father, Jose. Could that have happened in another way? Of course. But if Jordan had listened to the fans around him and in a rude act of public rejection, thrown that ball back onto the field, and then the ball had made its way to Tristan, we wouldn’t feel the same way about it, and we certainly would not know about it.

This is a feel-good story. We feel good even though I only read about it, and you have now only heard about it. Imagine how any of the players, or Jose, or Jordan feels?  I believe that the people who performed the various acts of  generosity of spirit – רוח נדיבה are more likely to see other people more generously in the future. These are the rewards that Rambam and Rabbi Elazar are teaching us about when emphasizing the impact of frequent acts of generosity of spirit.

Developing that generosity of spirit within ourselves will impact our family and friends, our community and the strangers we come into contact with. Developing that generosity of spirit in ourselves will help to change the world when we demand the same of our media and our leaders. The generosity we build within our own hearts can help to build a world that is different. We can change the world if we hold our leaders accountable for being small minded. And we can change the world when we stand behind and support leaders who see the world with generous eyes.

Let us go forward into this new year of 5785 full of ruach nedivah – generosity of spirit. Proverbs teaches us

טֽוֹב־עַ֭יִן ה֣וּא יְבֹרָ֑ךְ כִּֽי־נָתַ֖ן מִלַּחְמ֣וֹ לַדָּֽל׃

The generous man is blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor. May we all be blessed because each day we find small ways to express our generosity, whether with some bread to a poor person or with patience to our loved ones. Each day, may we build and strengthen the habit of generosity of spirit by doing the small things, actions full of grace, that make the lives of others better. May we give words of kindness to the barista with sweat on her brow, even if, or especially if there is a long line and we are waiting and waiting. In this new year let us all keep in mind the dollar that Rabbi Greenberg carries with him.  Every day may we each find our own way to act with that same generosity of spirit. You will transform yourself, the person you bless with kindness, and the world that we inhabit together.