The Pasuk in Megillat Esther says, וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ On Purim we send portions, man to his friends וּמַתָּנ֖וֹת לָֽאֶבְיוֹנִֽים and gifts to the poor The rabbis find a hint in this, to the month of Elul - א יש ל רעהו ו מתנות ל אביונים - אלול The first letter of each word spells out Elul . The Chayeh Adam says that it’s a hint to us that, during the month of Elul, we should give gifts to the poor, and even give little gifts to our friends. The lesson is that in the month of Elul , which is the last month of the year, we are supposed to be creating friendship and warmth, like we do in the month of Adar (which is also the last month of the year, when starting from Nissan ). This is because creating unity among the Jewish people arouses Hashem’s mercy. We have another story about Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky, the Gadol HaDor, a giant in understanding what it means to do hessed . He was such a genius, that people witnessed that he was able to talk to people, while simultaneously writing two responsas, one with his right hand and one with his left hand. He was a giant of giants, a genius of geniuses. He said that when he was younger, he thought that the greatest thing was to write a sefer of Hiddushei Torah . He thought that was what he would bring to Olam Habah. But as he got older, he realized that that greatest thing he had was his charity book, where he recorded all the money given to widows and orphans. He understood the greatness of giving to people. In the last months of his life, a delegation came to him about a certain matter. Rabbi Chaim Ozer was sick and in need of medicine. A member of the delegation, who was returning to America, asked the Gadol if there was anything that he personally could do for the rabbi, after taking care of the needs of the community. The Rabbi thanked him for his kindness, and said that yes, there was actually something he could do: “ There is a widow that works in my house, she helps clean up. She has very wide feet. The correct size shoe for her is not available in our little town. Maybe you could send her a pair of shoes. I would really appreciate that. That is what you can do for me.” And then the Rav added, almost parenthetically, some medicine that he needed. That’s what, “ Doing something personal, ” meant for the Gadol . Personal meant, “ Take care of my housekeeper.” That is the way an Adam Gadol looks at life. Have a wonderful day.