Working For A Living 6

Mishna Avot (2:2)

Rabban Gamliel, the son of R. Yehuda HaNassi, says: It is well to combine the Torah study with some worldly occupation, for the exertion that the both entail keeps sin out of ones mind”

Commentary of Rabbi Yosef Yaabetz

This mishna directly follows what [R. Yehuda HaNassi] said with regard to yiras Shomayim (fear of G-d), stating, “Contemplate…. For his son [Rabban Gamliel] saw fit to recommend worldy pursuit and work as the means to sustain ones fear of G-d. Even if the work is inferior and wretched, it is proper to hold on it, love it and be proud of it, since it is a found and root cause of yiras Shomayim – just as the head of Jewish royalty [King David] danced before G-d “like one of the boors,” showing concern only for honor of his Creator and not for his own. Our sages of blessed memory stated (Sotah 49b), “Since Rebbe (ie R Yehuda Hanassi_ passed away, humility and fear of sin have become extinct”. [The reason for this is that] during the days of Rebbe, the desire for Torah was so strong that it alone was sufficient to keep an individual from transgressing, in line with the verse (Prov 2:10-12) “When wisdom enters your heart … to rescue you from the way of evil…” However, after death, there was a need for something else, namely work [to keep [people from sinning]. It is for this reason that [Rabban Gamliel sated that “the exertion that they both entail keeps sin out of one’s mind”. (Above source for Eyes to See: R’ Yom Tov Schwarz)

THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORKING PEOPLE
(In All Your Ways, Know Him:Two Modes of Serving God Harav Aharon Lichtenstein)

The final mishna in Menachot (13:11, 110a) points out that the same phrase, rei’ach nicho’ach (a sweet savor), is used with regard to sacrificial offerings of different value—cattle, birds and flour. From here it derives a principle: “Echad ha-marbeh ve-echad ha-mam’it, u-bilvad she-yekhaven adam et da’ato la-Shamayim—It matters not whether a person offers much or little, so long as he directs his heart to Heaven.” This mishna is quoted in a gemara which every person should learn and apply; it should be hung on the wall of every beit midrash:

A favorite saying of the Rabbis of Yavneh was: I am God’s creature and my fellow man (i.e. a non-scholar) is God’s creature. My work is in the town and his is in the field. I rise early for my work and he rises early for his work. Just as he does not presume to do my work, I do not presume to do his. Will you say, I do much and he does little? We have learnt: “It matters not whether a person does much or little, so long as he directs his heart to Heaven.” (Berakhot 17a)

The Rabbis of Yavneh say that one should have a sense of the worth not only of people who sit in a beit midrash, but also of those who are “in the field,” engaged in building society, culture, economy, country, government—any of the various walks of life whose development is essential if the world of “le-ovdah u-leshomrah” is to be sustained. This is a very clear and direct critique of the kind of condescension towards balebatim (people in non- Torah professions) which unfortunately one sometimes encounters in yeshiva circles. Sometimes, yeshiva students tend to regard themselves as the salt of the earth, while considering other people to be of secondary value. This kind of arrogance has no place in a beit midrash and must be shunned by any ben-Torah. A ben-Torah must believe that Torah is important, but that people engaged in other walks of life are also part of God’s world, and are fulfilling their mission of “le-ovdah u-leshomrah” within that world. He is doing his work and I am doing my work, but what is important is the quality, intensity and scope of a person’s dedication to Heaven. Whatever a person does can be geared ultimately to fostering his relationship with God.

Does this mean that therefore it is irrelevant whether a person is marbeh or mam’it, as long as he directs his heart to Heaven? Surely not! Surely not if we are talking about avodat Hashem generally, and certainly not if we are talking about talmud Torah. Rather, this phrase means that even if a person finds himself in circumstances where he needs to be mam’it—after all, God did not create the world as one tremendous kollel—he should attempt to serve God in whatever he is doing, and others should value his efforts. But to the extent that a person can be a marbeh, of course he is supposed to be a marbeh!