Advice for Life: Meaning at Work
Yesterday I wrote about “Advice for Life”, a course based on the teachings of the Chabad-Lubavitcher, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known as the Rebbe (for the story of how I landed in this class, read here).
The first session was titled “Meaning at Work”. What I took from this class is what is described as “the puzzling perspective of the Torah”. On one hand, Jews learn that God chose the Jewish people for a unique spiritual role and that we should be holy. This implies we should spend a great deal of time in sacred pursuits such as studying Torah, performing mitzvot, and in prayer. At the same time, the Torah establishes that most of our time is to be devoted to pursuit of the material. We are to work to make this material world a place where God would dwell.
Rabbi Schneerson encouraged work. One of the reasons is because in doing so you are likely to expand your income and give more to charity. There were other reasons. When we work, we are in a setting where we can inspire others to be better people. He was also critical of retirement, as he felt for many, work was a means to fulfilling our purpose in life.
As a result, I was surprised to learn that he discouraged spending our days exclusively in the study of Torah. Of course, the Rebbe encouraged Torah learning. But he felt if we isolated ourselves in study all day, we would not be interacting with others and therefore minimizing the opportunity to inspire goodness.
—Rabbi David Woznica
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To register for Rabbi Woznica’s online class, “Favorite Moments in the Torah”, which meets on Mondays at 10:15 a.m., please click here.