GEN980 We should not shirk our responsibility to do chesed.   From this verse we see the importance that God places on chesed.  When Sodom was to be destroyed, God told Avraham about the impending destruction in advance. Avraham merited this prophetic disclosure by virtue of his intention to teach the ways of kindness to his descendants.   The Talmud Yevamot 79a explains that the word tzedakah in this verse refers to all forms of chesed and states that doing chesed is one of the three basic attributes of the Jewish people.   Rambam comments about this verse: “We must be more careful about charity than with any other positive commandment because charity is one of the signs of our lineage from Avraham our foregather, as it is written, [This verse].   Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:1.   PLYN 74