It has so often been said that mans’ greatest crisis is not so much how
he handles his vocation as how he handles his spare time. The ever
intensifying pursuit of happiness and leisure activity coupled with
increasing unemployment has found man facing his greatest crisis …. what to
do with his dubious blessing of leisure time.
The equation of work to leisure which constitutes man’s cycle of life is
however radically altered by the Talmudic sage Rabbi Ishmael. In a
remarkable comment on the second paragraph of the Shema, he introduces a
third vital and paramount element into life’s equation – that of Torah
study. If, he argues, the duties of the Torah study demand that we meditate
on it day and night [Joshua 1.8] then what time if any is left to indulge
one’s other interests? Is one indeed legitimately permitted to work even to
support one’s wife and family? The answer is derived from the verse “And you
shall gather in your corn and your wine and your oil.” Thus concludes Rabbi
Ishmael the Torah concedes man the right to earn a livelihood.
In the Torah’s view, work is not the primary function of man but can be
legitimised insofar as it contributes to and enhances his main activity of
Torah study.
If over abundance of leisure time has presented man with his greatest
crisis, it provides the Jew with his ultimate challenge. The cessation of
work requires the pursuit of one’s true vocation – life’s purpose itself –
Talmud Torah. For this reason Rabbi Chiya concluded his prayers with the
words “May it be Your will that Your Torah be our occupation” [Brachot
16.6]. Such an occupation may perhaps demand flexible timekeeping, but it
guarantees dignity and fulfilment through full employment throughout the
span of life.
The summer months provide a sight that gladdens the heart and bodes well for
the future in the ever-increasing numbers of migratory droves of our young
who leave our shores in pursuit of Jewish learning in Yeshivot and
Seminaries. Such praiseworthy endeavours are often viewed by parents as
filling-in exercises between school and university or life’s study and
life’s work. We should rather commend them for what they truly are –
apprenticeships to life’s occupation itself.
