Preface – 5
The Sages said (Sota 14a), The Torah begins with an act of benevolence [And Hashem God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin, and He clothed them (Bereishis 3:21)] and ends with an act of benevolence [He buried him in the depression (Devarim 34:6)]. This is to teach us the great importance of this trait. But in truth it is not only at the beginning and at the end that the Torah talks of chessed-kindness but, in fact, many passages in the Torah are filled with this matter of benevolence.
And we need to know that ‘kindness’ (chessed) is not just lending money, but it encompasses all types of benevolence that a person might do towards his friend and benefits him without charge. One person may do kindness with his money while another does so with his body. And within those, one might do good with the living, such as hosting guests or visiting the sick; and another might do kindness with the dead, such as escorting the deceased at a funeral. All these things are included in the positive commandment of “love your neighbor as yourself,” for whatever a person would want done for himself, he should do for others.