The saying of Shimon Hatsaddik closes with the third component of the triad on which the world stands - Gemillas Hassadim, or Kindness. This term differs in one interesting detail from how the word is used in previous literature. In Proverbs (Mishlei 11:17 reads, Gomel nafsho ish chesed, see Ishaiah 63:7), the term is gomel chassed, in singular, whereas for Shimon Hatsaddikk, as well as for its contemporaneous Shmone Esrei, the term in in plural - Gomel Hassadim. Why the change and what is the difference?
To explain, I will first address the difference between Kelli (vessel) and Kelipah (husk) in Kabala. Both contain and encompass Divine light; yet, the former is good and the latter is evil. How does one explain this?
R. Ashlag in the introduction to his Commentary to the Zohar explains that a keli contains light only in order to share it with the others Light flows through it and it is but a way station. Kelippah on the other hand imprisons and holds on the the Light, only for itself. Since God gives, a Kelli is like God and it is therefore good. KelIpah, on the other hand, is a complete opposite of God, for it only takes. As such it is evil.
A gomel chessed is different from gomel chassadim, for the former only gives but the latter takes, transmits, participates, shares and conveys kindness, intimately involved in the process of passing through and partaking in Divine Goodness. This is the crucial difference in meaning between the two terms. The former is alone, an individual who does good for another, the latter a part of what the world stands on - a society of givers who interact and share goodness to stand up their world on the basis of sharing and giving.
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