Just Because

As always, he was there.
The usual spot.
Waiting, hoping…

And there we were.
As always.

I cannot help but give.
It was a lesson I learned by watching.
Money she put into the pushke before lighting candles.
Money he took from the pushke whenever he went “into town.”
I never heard them complain.
It never seemed like a burden.
It just was.
It just was something we do because …
כי קדוש אני יי אלהיכם
because the Eternal our God demands it of us.

So when Peach saw him, waiting,
he looked at me from his carseat.
Nodding his head in the man’s direction.
I rolled down my window, handed the man some money, and chatted with him until the traffic light turned.

Later, as he was drifting to sleep
Peach told me that his favourite part of the day was giving tzedakah.
He was afraid that it might rain on the man.
And he hoped that we had helped.

If only it was that easy.

But God’s command to be holy is not only applicable to those cases when we can bring about a perfect solution.
Being holy means grasping every opportunity and elevating it…and ourselves.
Making those favourite moments.
And trying to do what is right.