There is a common misconception that there are two different sets of mitzvot in the Torah. There are the mitzvot bein adam lechavero and mitzvot bein adam lamakom. There are mitzvot like lulav, shatnez and kosher which are just between us and Hashem. Then there are mitzvot like lashon hara, chessed, and judging people favorably which are focused on interactions with other people. It would seem that these two different types of mitzvot can operate independent of one another, with different underlying middos involved in observing them. Theoretically therefore, we could keep one set without the other. However, Chazal teach us that this is not the case. These two different types of mitzvot are interconnected and it is impossible to truly keep one without the other, and to be a true Torah observant Jew it is necessary to perfect one’s middos and keep both sets of mitzvot. This is because all the mitzvot in the Torah, whether bein adam lechavero or bein adam lamakom, have the same underlying principle. The question that needs to be addressed is why is this true? Why is it that it is necessary to perfect our middos in order to properly keep all the mitzvot in the Torah. How does one’s ability to be kind to someone else affect their shaking of a lulav or eating Matzah? And why is it that we need to keep all the mitzvot in the Torah in order to be able to treat other people properly?
To understand this connection we need to analyze the chesed of Avraham Avinu and his amazing ability to do chessed. In Parshas Veira we learn about how Avraham entertained three Malachim on an unnaturally hot day. Hashem made it extra hot so there would be no travelers out that day so as not to inconvenience Avraham after his bris mila. But that didn’t work- Avraham was still sitting outside waiting for guests. He had within him a burning desire to do chessed and was in pain over the fact that he had no one to do chessed for. So Hashem made a miracle and sent three angels to Avraham so he could do chessed. We see from here an additional level of the chessed of Avraham. Not only did he want to do chessed for people he was with, he searched out situations where he could do chessed. At all times he was constantly looking for new opportunities to do chessed. To Avraham, the obligation to do chessed went beyond simply being nice to people. Where did Avraham learn this from? It is one thing to treat the people around you kindly, but why did Avraham feel the need to search for people who he knew would not be out there? How was he able to attain this level of chessed?
There is another question we can ask about the chesed of Avraham. Avraham wasn’t just a baal chessed. He also had amazing belief and trust in Hashem. Avraham recognized Hashem and rejected idol worship on his own at a time when everyone else in the world was serving idols, the sun and the stars, and had been doing so for hundreds of years. How was Avraham able to develop this high level of belief in Hashem at a time when no one else did? What led him to this discovery, and why is it not recorded in the Torah? We know Avraham for his chessed, but what about the fact that he alone rejected idols and returned to Hashem? It is only from a Midrash that we know the story of him destroying the idols of his father and being thrown into the furnace. Don’t these seem like worthwhile events to record in the Torah?
All these questions have the same answer. The Alter of Slabodka explains that Hashem created the world purely for the purpose of doing chessed to the people He created. Every single thing Hashem created from the stars to the sand to oranges to cows was created in order to do chessed to His creations. Everything in this world is here purely for the purpose of doing good for people. It was this idea that led Avraham to discover Hashem. He looked around at the world and saw how incredible it was and how much good there was, and concluded that there must be a Creator behind this! He was able to see the chessed of Hashem in every aspect of the creation. He realized how everything in this world is for our benefit and comes directly from Hashem who gains nothing from everything He gives to us. Avraham was able to come to belief in Hashem through focusing on all the good in this world and realizing it comes from Hashem who is the ultimate source of good in this world.
This is why we discuss the chessed of Avraham so much and not his discovering Hashem because they are one and the same. By understanding the chessed of Avraham we can understand how he found Hashem. The depth of Abraham’s chessed came from his desire to emulate the middos he saw in Hashem, and it was through these middos of chessed that Avraham was able to recognize Him. This is also why Avraham was sitting outside on the hottest day ever. He learned the midda of chessed directly from Hashem and realized that the obligation to do chessed goes far beyond anything we would realize on our own. Just as Hashem created the entire world in order to do chessed to just one person, so too Avraham wanted to create situations in which he could do chessed. This is because he was trying to emulate the middos of Hashem which he discovered.