Vayakhel-Pekudei – Torah Ethics - You Are Not Your Job

Explore Torah teachings on Jewish identity. What defines who you are? Your career? Your achievements? Your title? 

Modern culture teaches us that our value comes from our productivity. We live in a world where the first question people ask is: “What do you do?” This is not the Jewish way, not what the Torah teaches.

In a world obsessed with doing, this shiur explores the Torah perspective on identity, work, and human value. The distinction that Judaism makes, changes the way we live our lives.

Transcript

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A rabbi dies and arrives at the gates of heaven. As he gets to the gates, he sees a taxi driver he knows from his community. They say hello while they're both standing there waiting for the angel to review their files. First the angel calls the taxi driver forward. Welcome, he says. You've done very well. We've prepared a beautiful mansion for you overlooking the heavenly gardens. The taxi driver is stunned. A mansion? Wow. Then the rabbi steps forward. The angel hands him a small set of keys and says, You'll be staying in this modest little cottage just over there. The rabbi looks shocked. Wait a second, he says. I was a rabbi for forty years. I taught Torah every day. I give sheerim every week. I dedicated myself to my to my community. And he drove a taxi. The angel says, Yes, we know. The rabbi says, So how does the taxi driver get a mansion and I get a cottage? The angel explains. You have to understand how we measure things up here. When you gave sheerim, people mostly fell asleep. But when he drove his taxi, everyone prayed. Of course it's a joke. But what's interesting about that joke is the taxi driver isn't rewarded for what he did, but for the impact he had on people. When the Torah speaks of Shabbat in the Aserat-A-Dibra, both in Pasha Yitro, which we read a few weeks ago, and in Veetchanan, which of course is in Devarim where Moshe reprises the Aserat-A-Dibro, the Ten Commandments, it uses the formula She Shet Ya Mimta Avod, six days you shall work. This is work as an active pursuit. Yet in this week's pasha in Viachel, the words change to Shech Ya Mimta Asemalacha, six days work shall be done. This is now passive. Not you shall work, but the work shall be done. So of course the question is why the change? Why in this week's Pasha? I think exploring this question provides deep answers to understanding who we are and how we're supposed to live. So in Pasha Bareshit, we're told, Imelu etta arets vachivs, fill the earth and bring it under your control. In Judaism, we have a responsibility to engage the world, build the world, and improve the world. Therefore, developments in technology, medicine, travel, and communication can actually be holy pursuits if they are developed to help improve people's lives and of course are used in the right way for the positive. Work and endeavour are part of Hashem's design of creation. Therefore, when the Torah mentions Shabbat as part of society and the structure of life, it describes work as active. Six days shall you work. And this happens on a few occasions. So we've already mentioned the Asserat Adibrot, both in Pashat Yitra and Vethanan. We're talking about the foundations of the mitzvot, the proper structure of life. It includes society and the importance of giving others rest, our sons, our daughters, our servants, our animals. In Pashat Mishpatim, its Shabbat is mentioned in the context of social justice. And therefore we have workers active again. And in Pashakitissa, when Shabbat is mentioned in context of the agricultural cycle, it's again talked about in the active way. Six days you shall work. In terms of normative human responsibility, there is a necessity to work. And where society and the structure of life is mentioned in the Torah, it's described in its active way. Six days you shall work. But there are three places in the Torah where work is described passively. In Pasha Kitisar, it's mentioned once again, coming straight after the instructions regarding the Mishkan. In this week's Pasha, in Vyakel, it's talked about just before the instructions and contributions for the Mishkan. And in Sefa Vayikra, in Pasha and Mor, Shabbat comes before we're introduced to all the Moadim, all the festivals. Each time, in those cases, it's talked about in the passive. In other words, when the Torah talks about Shabbat in terms of the functioning of society as a whole, it says six days you shall work. This is because the Torah is emphasizing our human responsibility to act. However, once the Torah talks about Shabbat with regard to holiness in terms of the Mishkan and in terms of the Hagim, it talks about work passively. Six days work shall be done. The Midrash in Tamchuma tells us that Hashem created the world so he could have a dwelling place in the lower realms. In other words, our goal is to create a dwelling place for the Shakina, which means elevating ourselves spiritually. The Lubavitcharebi, Rat Ravmanachim Mendel Schneerson, explains that work should be something that we do, but not something that consumes a person. One should engage in work but not become absorbed or defined by it. In other words, when discussing holiness, the Torah subtly reminds us that work is not the ultimate source of our lives or our identity. It is something we do, not who we are. There is a very powerful message specifically delivered in this week's pasha. You see, Rashi explains that the assembly of the people that we're talking about in this week's Pasha took place the day after Yom Kippur. In other words, the day after Moshe came down from Sinai with the second Luchot, and we had been forgiven for Heta Egel. And this is very important. The Rambam in Hilchot Abadasera explains that idolatry started with the acknowledgement of intermediaries. In other words, we know Hashem made the sun and the moon and the stars. And it was a way of honoring Hashem to also honour the sun, the moons, and the stars. However, it started as honouring Hashem, but eventually people ended up worshipping the intermediaries. The sin of Khitah Agel was not replacing Hashem, it was creating an intermediary, the Aegel, which quickly became confused with the source, with Hashem himself. Six days' work shall be done, is reminding us that mankind is not sustained by his own efforts, but through Hashem's Bracha. Our work merely provides a natural channel for this bracha, and we must remember that it is no more than a channel. In other words, we're not allowed to do nothing. We are partners with Hashem. We have to be active. But once we've made that channel for Bracha, we've done our bit. Excessive preoccupation with business and the material world is a form of idolatry. If we work excessively because we believe it's our hard work that brings success, it's our money that brings security, it's our career that defines who we are, we're worshiping the intermediary. This is the mistake of Heth Eegel. Ultimately, everything comes from one source, Hashem. Yes, we have to put in effort. Our work creates a natural channel for the bracha from Hashem. However, it should not be excessive. Therefore, we're told six days work shall be done. It should not define us. Externally, we should work diligently. However, internally we should remain attached to Torah. The secular may occupy a significant amount of our time, but it should not pre-occupy us. Becoming too obsessed with work is a lack of emuna. Working excessively suggests that it is the intermediary, the work itself, which brings success and not Hashem. This is Kheita'egel, and it's why the lesson is here. Just after we have been forgiven for Kheita Egel, Moshe has come down with the second set of Luchot, the tablets. We've had Yom Kippur. We're reminded that the antidote to this sin is Shabbat. It's interesting. There is a Pasuk in Tehilim. It says, Yagia ka pecha kitokhel, you will eat from the toil of your hands. But it says the toil of your hands, not your nashamah, not your soul. What you do does not define who you are. So, of course, famously we have in this week's Pasha Shabbat, as we're discussing, before the contributions to the Mishkan, and Rashi brings down and says the reason Shabbat is mentioned here before the Mishkan is that we should know that we do not break Shabbat in order to build the Mishkan. And in fact, based upon this juxtaposition of the themes of Shabbat and the Mishkan, Hazal learn, as they bring down in the Gomorrah in Shabbat 49 Ahmed Bet that the very definition of the activities prohibited on Shabbat is determined by the task connected with the construction of the Mishkan. One of the reasons given for this is that holy time, represented by Shabbat, supersedes holy space, which is represented by the Mishkan. We can understand this. Time is the only finite resource we have. We can make money and we can lose money and we can make money again. I'm not negating the importance of friendships. But we make friends and sometimes we can lose a friend or drift apart from a friend, but we can make another friend, but we cannot make more time. We have our 120 years and that's it. Therefore, the single biggest determining factor of success in our lives is how we use time. We can choose to open a safer and learn, or we can open an app on our phone and scroll. It's up to us. This is why today, as we mark Shabbat Chodesh for this Shabbas, the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people was counting of time. Because mastery of the time will determine all our other successes. I'm always very taken profoundly with a Gemarah in Shabbat in 31 Ahmad Alif. It's a famous Gemorrah it tells us the questions that we're going to be asked when we go up to Shemayim. You know, were we fair in business, etc. But one of the questions we're going to be asked is, did you make time for Torah study? And I think it's profound. Because you would have thought the question should be, did you study Torah? That's the question. No, that's not the question we're asked. Did you make time to study Torah? Because it's what we make time for and give time for that's so important because it is our only finite resource. So we have an idea that holy time supersedes holy space. But I think there's something else as well. The Gomorrah in Brachot in 57 Ahmed Bet tells us that Shabbat is a taste of the world to come. So you say, well, how is Shabbat a taste of the world to come? It's a physical day. We go to Shual and we come home and we have lunch and you know we do some learning as well. And we go back to Shaol for Minhar. And how is it a taste of the world to come? Because this world is a world of becoming. That is why we're never satisfied. The world is wired like that. It's in the fabric of creation. We strive, we work, we grow to become the best versions of ourselves in all facets all of our lives that we can be. But Alamhabba, the world to come, that's a world of being. There's no more striving, no more working, no more growing. And for one day on Shabbat, we stop becoming, we stop creating, and we spend one day just being. That is the whole point of the malachot. You know, people say turning on a light switch isn't work. What are you talking about? It's not work, it's about creating. We don't create, we just accept the world as it is for one day. That's why you can set a time switch, because then you've done that before Shabbat. It's not something you're acting on Shabbat, but on Shabbat we just be, we accept the world as it is. Therefore, when the Torah tells us that one cannot break Shabbat to build the Mishkan, what is the Torah telling us? Even when you build the holiest physical project in history, the Mishkan, your identity is not defined by labor, what you do, but by Shabbat, who you are. It is not just that holy time is more important than holy place. It is also that Shabbat being who you are is more important than becoming what you do. We live in a world where we define people by what they do. It's often the first question someone asks when they meet you what do you do for a living? And we will judge someone based on their answer. I'm a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a garbage man. We'll change how we feel about a person. Shabbat reminds us that who you are does not depend on human productivity. The Shem Mishmal, Ravshmul Bornstein, says something amazing. He explains that there are two frameworks of Shabbat. So if you go to Parshat Yitro, you go to the first of the Iserat Debrot, the first of the Ten Commandments in Parshat Yitro, we're told, in six days Hashem made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that's in them, and he rested on the seventh day. This describes Shabbat as the culmination of the six work days. This is Shabbat as testimony to Hashem as creator, who made the world in six days and stopped on the seventh. But in Pasha Ethanna, in Seifer Devorim, where Moshe reprises the Serat adibra, creation's not mentioned. We're told to remember that we were slaves in Egypt, and Hashem took us out with a strong hand and outstretched arm. Therefore, Hashem has commanded us to keep Shabbat. This is Shabbat as the impetus for the rest of life. Because Hashem took us out of Egypt and we became his people, we now have the opportunity to live as Jews, to be kohenim of the world. So testifying to Hashem as creator of the world, the six days of work come first and then Shabbat. But when it comes to our own experience as Jews, Shabbat comes first. Hashem gave us the freedom to be Jews and live as Jews, which is personified ultimately by Shabbat. And then we have the six working days. And this actually mirrors the human experience. Because Adam and Hava were created on the sixth day. They were created on Friday. Therefore, their first full day on earth was Shabbat. The six days of work came after. This is the lessons of six days work shall be done. Our work does not define us. We're primarily spiritual beings. Therefore, the first question we should ask is the question of Shabbat. Who do I want to be? It is the answer to that that then informs our six working days. Given who I want to be, what should I do? The Rumbam brings down, you know, the non-Jewish nations of the world call the days of the week days. So Sunday means Sunday. Monday means the moons day. But we don't do that. We call the days of the week Yom Rishon, Yom Shane, Yom Shlishi, one day after Shabbat, two days after Shabbat, three days after Shabbat. We define our entire working week around Shabbat. Why? Because first of all we decide who we want to be, and that informs the other six days of what we should do. If I want to be a person who helps people, maybe I should be a doctor. If I want to be a philanthropist, someone who funds good causes, maybe I should be in business. If I want to be a person who brings joy to the world, maybe I should be a chef or an entertainer. If I want to be a person who gives, I'm motivated to volunteer. If I want to be a person who's connected to Hashem, I'm motivated to go to shoul. If I don't want to be seen as a grumpy person, I should be careful what I say. We live in a world where people decide what they want to do before they decide who they want to be. It's the wrong way around. This is the message of Shabbat. This is the message at the beginning of this week's pasha. This lesson is underpinned with Shabbat Hachodesh. When we're given the first mitzvah of Rosh Hodesh, we're told that we count the months from Nissan. Why? So of course we know that Rosh Hashanah's in Tishri, but that's the beginning of the physical new year. It's the actual date the world was created, and the first of Tishri is the creation of mankind. So we date the years, we change years in Tishri. The physical new year, because that's historically accurate. The world was created, and then we date the first day of creation as the creation of mankind because that is the whole purpose of creation. And so every year we change the year in Tishri. However, the first month is Nissan. We count from Nisan because that's the spiritual new year. Nisan is the month when the Jewish mission started as a people, as Klal Ishra'el. We were given the first mitzvah of Rosh Khodesh to count the first of Nisan. It's also when Kaddishan took place. We were betrothed to Hashem through Korban Pesach in the month of Nisan. On Issuin, our marriage then comes at Hasinai, which is why we have this count, one of the reasons for the count of the Omer from Pesach up to Shavawat. A lot of people view this seven-week period as one big Halomoad. So our mission is primarily a spiritual mission, and therefore the counting of the months is from the spiritual new year, which is Nissa. In Pasha Bareshit, Hashem told us to conquer the earth. Therefore, we have a responsibility to work, to strive, and to contribute to the world. When the Torah is emphasizing society and the functioning of humanity, it highlights this striving. So six days shall you work. In the Asserat Adibrot, the foundations of society, in Mishpatim, focusing on social justice, in Kitissa, when we're talking about the agricultural cycle. But when Shabbat is mentioned directly with regard to holiness, the building of the Mishkan, the cycle of the Moadim, the festivals, it says six days work shall be done. We have to put the effort into create a channel for the bracha that Hashem gives us. But we are primarily spiritual beings with a spiritual mission. To create a dwelling place for the Shahinah in this world. Who we are is much more important than what we do. Moreover, while we should put effort into our work, excessive work is a form of idolatry. It is emphasizing the intermediary, not the source, ultimately it all comes from Hashem. Work creates a channel for Bracha, but ultimately we know where it comes from. The Midrash in Tanchumer on this week's Pasha, which Rashi brings down, says that Moshe is brought the building blocks of the Mishkan and his job is to erect it. But there's a problem. The building blocks and the assorted construction pieces are all too heavy for Moshe to do it on his own. Hashem tells him to make an attempt, and miraculously the Mishkan is erected. But the message is clear. In the face of a seemingly impossible task, our job is to do our best. Hashem will take care of the outcome. The inputs are up to us, we have to put the effort in. But the outcomes, they're up to Hashem. Judaism does not reject doing. On the contrary, Judaism requires doing. Doing, however, must grow out of being. First define who you want to be. Let that inform what you do. We often ask our children what do you want to do when you grow up? The lesson is that the real question we should be asking is who do you want to be?