CHAPTER ELEVEN
MITZVOT BETWEEN MAN AND HIS FELLOW

1. Mitzvot between man and his fellow are of the basics of
   Judaism. This means to endeavor to benefit another, and to take
   care not to cause suffering to one’s fellow, as it says in the
   gemarah in massechet Yevamot that mercilessness and loving
   kindnesses are the purpose of Yisreal – see inside for further
   detail.
2. Although it is obvious that every Jew wants to benefit his
   fellow, and not cause him any harm, there are two errors often
   made in this area, causing many to stumble. The first is that
   many times when a person tries to do something good for his
   friend but doesn’t succeed, he thinks that it was a waste of time
   and he is discouraged from continuing to do similar acts in the
   future.
3. This is a terrible mistake, proven by Avraham Avinu who put
   himself out so much to feed the angels, as is detailed in parshat
   Vayiera, and it is clear from the gemarah in Bava Metziah –
   chapter 7 – that in this merit when his children, the Yisraelites
   were in the desert for forty years, manna fell down for them, as
   well as many other things. This means that he received
   tremendous reward for his deeds; millions of people were fed
   miraculously with food from heaven every day for forty years!
   [This wasn’t even the entire reward – there was even more than
   this.] Yet when Avraham gave the angels to eat, in the simplest
   way to understand it, he wasn’t really benefiting them, since
   angels don’t need to eat. But he didn’t know that they were
   angels and therefore fed them. Through this test of giving to
   another he received such a huge reward.
4. The explanation why there is such a great reward for trying
   to help another person, even if he didn’t succeed in benefiting
   him in the end, could be because he has the good will, and acts
   as a result of his desire to do good. The Chafetz Chaim says
   however, that there is an even greater additional point here, as
   we explained above, that the way the world runs is that
   whatever happens in the higher worlds is according to our
   behavior in this world, and according to what happens in the
   higher worlds there are results in this world. The Chafetz Chaim
   explains that whenever a Jew tries to do an act of kindness in
   this world, whether he succeeds in the matter or not, he
   awakens the attributes of kindness in the higher worlds, thereby
   bringing great goodness to the entire Jewish nation. It therefore
   follows that it is not possible that a person tries to do kindness
   but didn’t achieve anything; rather, whenever a person tries to
   perform loving kindnesses, he always brings kindnesses to other
   areas through awakening the attributes of kindness in the
   higher worlds.
5. At any rate, as the Chafetz Chaim brings from Chazal, that
   when a person does perform the kindness and does benefit
   another, the mitzvah and the reward is much much greater.
6. The second oft mistaken point in the area of the will to help
   and to hold back from hurting others, is that people think it
   refers only to big things and not small ones, for example there
   people who are very careful not to hurt others in a big way, but
   aren’t so careful not to hurt others in a small way, whereas in
   truth one needs to take care not to hurt others even in a very
   small way. The Chazon Ish writes in his collection of letters, that
   to hurt someone with words, even slightly and even for a short
   amount of time, is a Torah prohibition. This is something very
   difficult to take care in, but it is really a great obligation upon
   every person to try hard to do. Praiseworthy is the one who
   manages to be entirely vigilant in this area.
7. As a result of this, when it comes to helping others, it need
   not be just in big matters. It is a mitzvah to do so in small
   matters too.
8. A further important principle in this area is how very careful
   a person always has to be. Often when one is in a desperate, yet
   oft occurring situation, it is not always noticed by the world
   around him, but within his heart this person is broken to pieces.
   Someone who insults such a person, even very slightly, can
   greatly pain him, because it joins with the terrible pain already
   within him. The same is true of the opposite. One who merits
   gladdening such a person, even in a small way, can really
   transform the way he feels.
9. On a similar vein, there is a story of a person who came to
   ask the Chazon Ish advice about some every day issues, some
   very petty matters. It was simply hard for this person to make
   decisions by himself, and all his doubts weighed heavily upon
   him. The Chazon Ish answered every single question. When the
   person apologized to the Chazon Ish for taking his time from
   important things for such insignificant matters, the Chazon Ish
   replied that even people who come to ask him about important
   worldly things, like purchasing a home etc. what he does for
   them is not the decision that he makes for them, rather the
   main help is that he puts their minds at rest through his advice.
   If so, then there really is no difference between them and this
   person who to calm his mind needed help deciding petty
   matters. From here we learn a fundamental principle. The
   mitzvah to help others and to refrain from hurting them applies
   even to small things. Even more than this, often small things are
   not small things at all, but really big matters, since in that
   particular area they can bring great pain or great happiness.
10. The area of mitzvot between man and his fellow also applies
    to matters of spirituality. It is a tremendous mitzvah to help
    someone who is spiritually needy. When someone knows that
    his friend doesn’t understand a part of the gemarah well and
    requires help, it is a great mitzvah to help him. It is clear from
    Chazal that through this the helper himself will also merit great
    success in his studies.
11. Furthermore there is the point explained earlier, that every
    time that a Jew learns Torah or performs a mitzvah, he helps the
    entire Jewish nation. Through his Torah study or mitzvah
    performance the upper worlds are established and bounties of
    goodness and spiritual and physical blessings come down to the
    Jewish nation. This is especially when a person for some reason
    finds it hard to learn, and he could choose to stop learning, yet
    he takes hold of himself and continues further because he has
    mercy on those suffering and wants to help them with his
    learning. This is definitely considered a very great mitzvah
    between man and his fellow. [Obviously every mitzvah between
    man and his fellow is also between man and Hashem too, since
    Hashem commanded that he do it.