Gary Parness on Parnasah

Pirkei Avos Chapter Two Mishnah Two

Rabban Gamliel the son of R’ Yehudah Hanassi taught It is good to combine Torah study with a job, for working hard at both of them stops a person from sinning. Even more, any Torah study that is not combined with a job may end up as nothing and may even lead to sin.

If you look at the illustration that accompanies this Mishnah (in the Artscroll Youth Pirkei Avos) you will see a picture with two guys learning torah and in another picture looking under the hood of the car (working at a garage).

There are two main points that I want to make. The first one is…isn’t it nice that this Mishneh tells us that our jobs are super important and can stop us from sinning. Our jobs can also lead to the preservation of out Torah studies. This makes me feel better about the time and energy I put into my job. I would think it could do the same for you.

The second point is about Kollel learning. If I told you that there was a group of people who don’t work and only learn, how would you react? My reaction, based on this Mishneh would be surprise and confusion. The Mishneh seems to explicitly state you Torah learning is different than a job. Saying Torah learning is a job does not seem to be consistent with this Mishneh.

What do you say?

Backround Music

Gary's post got me thinking a bit. You know when you go into a department store, an elevator, or a pool hall and there is back round music playing? Most of us don't actually focus on the song that's being played. We don't think of the tune as having any impact on our journey. It's just back round music. But then there's always that guy who understands how integral it is to hone in on the music. He gets that there is a groove, and a vibe to the place that he is in. He understands that he needs the bass line in order to appreciate the place he is at and to figure out where he should be heading. We've got so much static and outside noise in our brains, and it's hard to tune all that out and focus on the godly rhythms of our lives. For many of us we are dancing to the beat of our own drum rather then trying to get in sync with the house music. If we want to hear the track that the DJ in the sky is laying down for us, step one is to tune out all of the other noise in our lives.

Gary Parness on Parnasah

Pinchas has an interesting story. I think there is a part of the story that we can use for our career development. Pinchas was born into the Levite profession, right? Everything going on in his life pointed to the career of Levite. End of story, right? Nope, Pinchas lived his life and part of that was creating a Kiddush Hashem (sanctification of God). As a result of that, God made this unexpected exception to the rule, which made Pinchas a Kohen. Did Pinchas expect this? Did he even think this was possible? The way I read the story, Pinchas never envisioned even the remote possibility of becoming a Kohen. Yet, he became a full-fledged Kohen.

So the career piece.

If Pinchas was able to become a full-fledged Kohen, defying expectations of how a Kohen is made, than can’t we expect the same in our careers? Perhaps there are certain career paths that we expect to follow in our lives. The lesson of Pinchas could be to expect the unexpected. Keep the options open even to remote possibilities or even impossible paths.

This Assoughn takes the cake, if only he could talk

This Parsha play is the runner up for parshas Balak

Gary Parness on Parnasah

By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, until you return to the ground for from it [the ground] were you taken. For you are dust and to dust you shall return. (Genesis)

“After the sweat of your face”- After you will toil much. (Rashi)

The sentence in the book of Genesis raises a lot of questions in my mind about the relationship between career and man. Here are some of the questions.

Do all men have to toil much? How much toiling do we have to do? Is this a negative thing? Can toiling for your bread be a positive thing? Is toiling a punishment, a consequence, or just a plain old fact?

This is one question that has had a profound nagging effect on me. Is it possible to avoid toiling for your bread? Are there alternatives? If someone won the lottery how does he fulfill this biblical verse? Can someone invest really well in the market and just live off the dividends? If you don’t toil for your bread does something bad happen? If we have an opportunity not to work so hard for our bread are we supposed to take it?

Is this toiling for your bread applicable to the modern day working woman? Does this verse only describe the relationship of man and not woman?

Why does God decide that sweating for our bread is important after the eating of the fruit? Is there a specific reason? What was Gods initial plan for man? To have a free ride in the garden of Eden without having to work for it? Why does eating the fruit change everything?

These are some of the questions that come to mind when I try to understand this verse. I think some of these questions can easily be answered, some not. However, I think answers to these questions can clarify what the role of career has in the life of man.

Reb Walter doesn't text on shabbos

"Being shomer (expletive) shabbos means taking that which is most precious to me and channeling it towards the big man in the sky." needless to say Walter doesn't text on shabbos, that just ain't how he rolls.