I love my job!

Shalom and thank you for your question. Truly Torah IS the most important work, that is,  serving G-d through learning Torah – which is called ‘the blueprint of the world’ in the classic text of Kabbalah called the Zohar (for the Torah portion of Parashat Terumah Section 2 161:1) and through carrying out G-d’s commandments, as enumerated and explained in the Written Law and the Oral Law, which is the purpose of the world. This is expressed by the author of the Tanya, a basic and important text of Chassidic teaching, “The ultimate purpose of the chain of descent (of spirituality to physicality) is that the One Above descend and that there be a dwelling place for Him in the lower world.” What is important to realize is that there is no contradiction here.

When a person turns his or her heart towards G-d, and tries to ‘rope in’ all the resources G-d gave him to carry out the Divine will and design, then he will find joy and fulfillment in whichever path G-d leads him, from sweeping the streets to being a Rabbi or a Professor. However,  just as it is recommended to meet one’s potential marriage partner and base one’s decision on emotional factors as well as seeking appropriate mental factors, (one should enjoy spending time with the person and also ascertain that the person answers reasonable requirements for a shared life of shared goals,) one should endeavor to work in a field in which he or she utilizes his or her particular talents or abilities as much as possible. The book called HaYom-Yom where Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, compiles teachings of his father-in-law, the Lubavitcher Rebbe before him, states in the entry for the 25th of Nissan (in the Hebrew calendar,) “A person who knows how to recover precious gems from the depths of the sea, or refine them, and occupies himself instead in baking bread… even though that is a very necessary activity, it is considered a lack…(in the person’s service of G-d.” This refers both to the more literal aspect of choosing an occupation that you are suited to according to your individual talents and tendencies, but also spiritually, if you are suited to learning Torah on a deep level for example, or you have patience to learn for lengthy periods, but you suffice with simple learning, or learning for short amounts of time, it is definitely considered a lack in your service of G-d, and this can truly relate to all areas of our life. In the book of HaYom-Yom the Lubavitcher Rebbe intends to emphasize that it is not enough to keep G-d’s commandments and learn Torah ourselves, rather we need to use all our G-d-given talents and resources to reach out to others and encourage them to do so as well. (We need to keep trying and not lose hope. It is important to have the guidance of a good friend or a spiritual mentor to be able to ascertain what are appropriate goals for you personally. If we set them too high they bring us down.)

In Ethics of the Fathers, (Pirkei Avot,) 1:10, it says “Love work and hate positions of power…” literally it states positions of Rabbanut – being a Rabbi, but does not necessarily mean literally a Rabbi, but positions of power, as above. The commentary brought in the prayerbook ‘Shai laMora’ explains that a person should love working, and loving work is what gives a person true honor. This can apply to any activity (within the framework of Jewish law,) which a person needs to do, as taught in Tractate Nedarim 49b. The commentary brings many sources that emphasize the importance of being ready and willing to do the work you need to do, with less emphasis on choosing which kind. It is understood that trying to curry favor with ‘influential’ people is not a worthwhile occupation.

We live in a society today in which there is much emphasis on being ‘true to one’s self’ – which is indeed important, but we need to take into consideration what the ultimate goal is. Why did G-d create us in the first place? G-d created (and constantly recreates) a world in which it is clear that there is good and evil, and that we have choices all along our path in life. G-d sent us out of the garden of Eden precisely in order to ’till the earth’, not only physically, but spiritually, to undergo a process of refining ourselves and the world around us by endeavoring to make the right choices. The right choices are those which are consistent with Torah values for Jews, and the Seven Noahide Laws for non-Jews. It may seem simple but it isn’t. There is always a choice to make between something clearly wrong and something clearly right, or something that could be right in a certain time and place but not necessarily right in this time and place. G-d wants us to seek connection with Him, and to seek to fulfill His Divine Will. This process has been refining the physical world since the beginning of creation and will soon lead us, with His help, to the true and complete Redemption. This is the work we are supposed to love!