The Best Reward for Doing Good Is Doing Good | 10@9 | 2026.08.13

A young woman at summer camp volunteered for a difficult job no one wanted - cleaning an especially messy bunk. When she finished, her counselor told her something she never forgot: your reward is that you got to do it. Years later, she still teaches that lesson to her own children. We usually think the reward for doing good comes afterward - appreciation, recognition, gratitude, or some other benefit. But perhaps the deepest reward is already contained in the act itself: knowing that we did something good and worthwhile. Sivan Rahav Meir finds this idea in the opening of Parshat Re'eh: “See, I place before you today blessing and curse.” What is the blessing? That we listen to God's commandments. Perhaps the Torah is teaching us that doing what God wants is not merely the path to the blessing. It is the blessing. That changes everything. If our satisfaction depends on being noticed or thanked, we have handed other people control over our happiness. But if the reward is knowing that we helped someone, did what was right, and did something God wants from us, then no one can diminish it or take it away. The best reward for doing good is doing good. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman ([email protected]) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.