How Small Acts Can Become Hundreds of Mitzvot Every Day

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the Rosh Yeshiva (head of yeshiva) of Ponevezh, once shared a powerful lesson with his students about how even the simplest people can sustain the world through their quiet acts of goodness. He said, “My father-in-law, Rabbi Y.Z. Diskin, used to say that there are people upon whom the world stands, and they themselves don’t even know it. They may appear simple, but they hold up the world.”

He shared a story to illustrate. “A taxi driver once told me that his dispatcher had skipped over him in line and gave a ride to someone else. Instead of arguing, the driver remained silent. Right after that, a new ride came in, one that was a long trip to a distant city. That ride brought him a big profit. He told me, ‘Because I stayed quiet, Hashem rewarded me.’”

Rabbi Edelstein added, “If someone lives with emunah (faith), he won’t be distressed in situations like this. He knows everything is from Hashem, and it’s all for the best.”

He went on to tell another story. “I was once in a taxi, and I shared a lesson I heard from the great Mashgiach (spiritual guide) Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein. Rabbi Levenstein once told a nurse caring for his hand, ‘Remember, you’re doing acts of chesed (kindness) all day long. Even though it’s your job, if you think about the kindness you're doing, it becomes a mitzvah.’”

He turned to the driver and said, “You’re also doing chesed all day. Every person you pick up, every ride you give, you’re helping people. If you do it with the thought that this is a mitzvah and not just a job, it brings you great merit.”

Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman also taught about this. He explained that when someone performs an everyday act, like selling groceries or driving a cab, but adds the intention of doing it as chesed or to help others, it becomes a mitzvah. “Let’s say a grocery store owner sells 100 items a day,” Rabbi Steinman said. “If he thinks to himself, ‘This is not just for my parnassah (livelihood), but also to help people get what they need’, he’s doing 100 mitzvot a day.”

The same goes for a cab driver. “If he thinks, ‘I’m helping someone get to where they need to go, especially someone elderly, sick, or in a rush,’ that’s a mitzvah. But how do we know it’s sincere? If a poor person who can’t pay needs a ride and the driver takes him anyway, that shows the chesed is real.”

Rabbi Steinman also gave an example from the medical field. “A nurse or doctor who is helping people, if they just add the thought, ‘This is a mitzvah, this is kindness,’ then every act becomes a spiritual merit. But if someone insults them, and they suddenly stop helping that shows the kindness wasn’t really for the mitzvah. When we act with humility and continue to help no matter what, then we see the mitzvah is genuine.”

This message reminds us that Judaism isn't only about big moments, it’s about the small, quiet choices we make every day. Helping someone, speaking kindly, or even doing your job with the thought that you're serving others can open the gates of Heaven.

And as our sages teach in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), “The world stands on Torah, on service of Hashem, and on acts of kindness.” Every one of us has the power to be part of that.