Kindness Isn't a Feeling, it's a Practice

(ב) שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:

Pirkei Avot 1:2

(2) Shimon the Righteous was one of the last of the men of the great assembly. He used to say: the world stands upon three things: upon the Torah, upon sacred service, and upon acts of loving kindness.

ויקרא י״ט:י״ח

(יח) לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י ה'׃

Leviticus 19:18

(18) You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people. Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself: I am ה'.

משנה פאה א׳:א׳

אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר. הַפֵּאָה, וְהַבִּכּוּרִים, וְהָרֵאָיוֹן, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה. אֵלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם אוֹכֵל פֵּרוֹתֵיהֶן בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְהַקֶּרֶן קַיֶּמֶת לוֹ לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. כִּבּוּד אָב וָאֵם, וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וַהֲבָאַת שָׁלוֹם בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם:

Mishnah Peah 1:1

These are the things that have no definite quantity: The corners [of the field]. First-fruits; [The offerings brought] on appearing [at the Temple on the three pilgrimage festivals]. The performance of righteous deeds; And the study of the torah. The following are the things for which a man enjoys the fruits in this world while the principal remains for him in the world to come: Honoring one’s father and mother; The performance of righteous deeds; And the making of peace between a person and his friend; And the study of the torah is equal to them all.

הושע ו׳:ו׳

כִּ֛י חֶ֥סֶד חָפַ֖צְתִּי וְלֹא־זָ֑בַח וְדַ֥עַת אֱלֹהִ֖ים מֵעֹלֽוֹת׃

Hosea 6:6

For I desire goodness, not sacrifice;
Devotion to God, rather than burnt offerings.

רש"י על דברים י״ג:ה׳:ד׳

ובו תדבקון. הִדַּבֵּק בִּדְרָכָיו – גְּמֹל חֲסָדִים, קְבֹר מֵתִים, בַּקֵּר חוֹלִים, כְּמוֹ שֶׁעָשָׂה הַקָּבָּ"ה (סוטה י"ד):

Rashi on Deuteronomy 13:5:4

ובו תדבקון AND UNTO HIM YE SHALL CLEAVE — i.e. cleave to His ways: do kindly actions, bury the dead, visit the sick, as did the Holy One, blessed be He (Sotah 14a).

סוטה י״ד א:ו׳

דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי שִׂמְלַאי: תּוֹרָה תְּחִלָּתָהּ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, וְסוֹפָהּ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים. תְּחִילָּתָהּ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים — דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיַּעַשׂ ה׳ אֱלֹהִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִשְׁתּוֹ כׇּתְנוֹת עוֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם״, וְסוֹפָהּ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים — דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיִּקְבֹּר אוֹתוֹ בַּגַּי״.

Sotah 14a:6

Rabbi Samlai taught: With regard to the Torah, its beginning is an act of kindness and its end is an act of kindness. Its beginning is an act of kindness, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). And its end is an act of kindness, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6).

משנה תורה, הלכות אבל י״ד:א׳

מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁל דִּבְרֵיהֶם לְבַקֵּר חוֹלִים. וּלְנַחֵם אֲבֵלִים. וּלְהוֹצִיא הַמֵּת. וּלְהַכְנִיס הַכַּלָּה. וּלְלַוּוֹת הָאוֹרְחִים. וּלְהִתְעַסֵּק בְּכָל צָרְכֵי הַקְּבוּרָה. לָשֵׂאת עַל הַכָּתֵף. וְלֵילֵךְ לְפָנָיו וְלִסְפֹּד וְלַחְפֹּר וְלִקְבֹּר. וְכֵן לְשַׂמֵּחַ הַכַּלָּה וְהֶחָתָן. וּלְסַעֲדָם בְּכָל צָרְכֵיהֶם. וְאֵלּוּ הֵן גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים שֶׁבְּגוּפוֹ שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁכָּל מִצְוֹת אֵלּוּ מִדִּבְרֵיהֶם הֲרֵי הֵן בִּכְלַל (ויקרא יט יח) "וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ". כָּל הַדְּבָרִים שֶׁאַתָּה רוֹצֶה שֶׁיַּעֲשׂוּ אוֹתָם לְךָ אֲחֵרִים. עֲשֵׂה אַתָּה אוֹתָן לְאָחִיךְ בְּתוֹרָה וּבְמִצְוֹת:

Mishneh Torah, Mourning 14:1

It is a positive commandment of Rabbinic origin to visit the sick, comfort mourners, to prepare for a funeral, prepare a bride, accompany guests, attend to all the needs of a burial, carry a corpse on one's shoulders, walk before the bier, mourn, dig a grave, and bury the dead, and also to bring joy to a bride and groom and help them in all their needs. These are deeds of kindness that one carries out with his person that have no limit.
Although all these mitzvot are of Rabbinic origin, they are included in the Scriptural commandment Leviticus 19:18: "Love your neighbor as yourself." That charge implies that whatever you would like other people to do for you, you should do for your comrade in the Torah and mitzvot.

ספר החינוך תקע״ג:ב׳

מִשָּׁרְשֵׁי הַמִּצְוָה. שֶׁאֵין רָאוּי לָנוּ לִגְמֹל חֶסֶד זוּלָתִי אֶל הָעָם יוֹדְעֵי הָאֵל וְעוֹבְדִים לְפָנָיו וּבְהִמָּנַע הַחֶסֶד מִשְּׁאָר בְּנֵי הָאָדָם וְנַעֲשֶׂה אוֹתוֹ לְאֵלּוּ נִבָּחֵן כִּי עִקַּר הָאַהֲבָה וְהַחֶמְלָה עֲלֵיהֶם, מִצַּד הַחֲזִיקָם בְּתוֹרַת אֱלֹהִים יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְהִנֵּה עִם הַכַּוָּנָה הַזֹּאת יִהְיֶה לָנוּ שָׂכָר בִּמְנִיעַת הַחֶסֶד מֵהֶם, כְּמוֹ בַּעֲשׂוֹתֵנוּ אוֹתוֹ אֶל בְּנֵי עַמֵּנוּ.

Sefer HaChinukh 573:2

It is from the roots of the commandment that it is fitting for us to do acts of loving-kindness only to the nation that knows God and serves in front of Him. And by refraining from kindness with other people and doing it with these, it becomes clear that the main love and pity on them is [coming] from the angle of their following the Torah of God, may He be blessed. And behold, with this intention, there will be reward for us in our refraining from kindness to them, [just] like [there will be] in our doing it to the children of our nation.

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

… It is very difficult, after we get our daily fill of news about what goes on in the world, to retain our love for man as man. He seems to us a most disgusting creature. There is no conceivable crime or folly from which he is free… [Yet] We must … habituate ourselves in that redemptive love for man which knows how to forgive… [judging] him, not for the evil he has done, but for the good he has in him to do…

This faith in the human being, this right to expect him to rise to greater heights of the spirit, is the way in which we must learn to love the humanity or divinity in ourselves and, by the same token, the humanity or divinity in our neighbor…

From With Heart in Mind by Alan Morinis

Love in Jewish tradition is incomplete if it is only a sentiment. It requires deeds in order to be actualized …. It is not enough to send out comforting vibrations to someone in mourning; we need to bake a kugel and then take it in hand to the house of mourning... Love feeds action and is fed by it.

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