יום ה Date: 1 Iyar, 5774 (5/1/14) – Beitzah#32 {Tani}

MERCY

[32b middle] Rav Nassan bar Abba in Rav’s name: The wealthy of Babylonia will descend into Gehennom (opposite of heaven). There was an incident when the wealthy people of a town in Babylonia did not let Shabsi bar Marinus take merchandise to sell, and they did not even give him food when he asked for it. These wealthy people must have descended from the Eirav-Rav because they did not possess the trait of compassion like those from Avraham Avinu.

T’s lesson: One of the hallmarks of being a Jew, is having the trait of kindness and compassion. If one does not have this trait and is an arrogant or cruel person, he cannot possibly be from the descendants of Avraham. In fact, the Mishna in Pirkei Avos details that there are three main criteria that define what a Jew is and the third one is compassion (and kindness too). If a person does not have this trait, he is lacking what it means to be a Jew. We should all strive to make sure that we imbue all our days with kindness and compassion to be worthy of the title of a true Jew.