How to Make Avoda Real

How to Make Avoda Real

This vaad is not the type which will instruct us what to do and we can say “Rav Leuchter told us to!” We must rather try to learn together how to deal with our unique situations. One of the challenges in the working professionals community is that each person has a different life situation and different career path, so there is no “one fit solution” to give over!

An example for how to dive deeper into a Torah obligation

As we said last vaad, we need to understand the Torah obligation on us in a different way. As we said, whenever we think that our life does not allow us to fulfill the obligations of the Torah, the true issue lies not with our perception of our life, but rather with our perception of the Torah. We are wrong that our life does not allow us to fulfill the Torah, we must understand the Torah deeper to bring to light how it does speak to our life.

We said last time that learning Torah has a component which is the “kernel of insight of Torah” which sticks in a person’s mind. There is a very complex sugiya in kesubos regarding a person who passes away and there are three people who have rights to the money but there is not enough to go around for everyone. It was so complicated to learn, but when I presented the case simply to my daughters, they had a very enjoyable time telling me what the halacha should be and indeed they intuited the opinions of many of the achronim! In other words, my daughters who are not versed in gemara, were taken by the sechel of Torah and interested by it. There was a kernel here which aroused the interest of the mind and without memorizing the opinions of the rishonim or diving into the complexities of the multitude of opinions on the mishnah, my girls were able to engage and connect with the sugiya in its fundamental form. This exposure to the framework of the sugiya is this type of “kernel of the Torah” which Baalei Batim can run with and think about throughout their work day.

The working person needs to bring the sugiya to life!

In this regard the Baalei Batim have a special connection with the Torah which the yeshiva bochur often lacks. While the yeshiva bochur is busy with the abstract nuances of the sugiya, the Baalei Batim are connecting to the tangible aspects of the sugiya. They deal with real life all day at work, so the Torah also needs to come to life for them! Indeed, in the example I gave where I shared the sugiya with my daughters, we actually role-played it initially in order to bring it to life! 

To learn in the hair-splitting abstract way of the yeshiva bochur is at odds with working life in which abstract nuances make no difference. So the ruchniyus must be tangible in order to keep up with the tangible gashmiyus which Baalei Batim are involved in. Indeed, Rav Yisroel Salanter in Miktav 29 in the note there says regarding his Rebbi R’ Yosef Zundel of Salant who had a small business for income, that R’ Yosef Zundel was busy with his business like a person who struggles financially…and yet his head was more occupied with Torah than with his business. It is because for R’ Yosef Zundel, the Torah was so tangible that it was for real. 

We can make the gemara real by playing out a court case in front of our eyes. We also need to do this with the chumash itself. For example when Avraham gave his angel-guests food, the Torah describes he gave them dairy and meat. The commentators try to explain how this worked halachically. The Rokeach gives an explanation which demonstrates how he saw the Torah alive in front of him. He explains that if you see people who you want to host and invite them in for a meal and you plan on giving them cow tongue, it takes around 3.5 hours to boil it. You don’t make them wait for 3.5 hours to eat it! Rather you first give them butter and milk and then after 3 hours you give them the tongue when it is ready. This is his answer to how Avraham fed the angel-guests dairy and meat. We can and need to have this approach to learning Torah. 

When Baalei Batim learn maseches sukkah with this approach and see the sugiyas as applicable, practical, and reality based, then Baalei Batim will find that their learning comes to life just as much as their business is alive! 

So if Baalei Batim want Avodas Hashem, they need the Avodas Hashem to have the quality of reality. In the gemara we said it is to bring it up as a court case but where do we see it in other areas?

Baalei Batim can make any avodah real and tangible

Baalei Batim can make any avodah real and tangible; Here are examples by Tefila and Tefillin of what “real” looks like:

Tefila

I worked with Baalei Batim on tefila and one of them who had never even been to yeshiva said to me some time afterwards “tefila is not an activity I do, it is a place I visit.” This means that tefila is real for him. This is a great accomplishment and is something which is lacking by most kollel men! 

Tefillin (Kedusha)

Baalei Batim can do this with tefillin, they can see that kedusha can even be for a limited time as the Ramban says that a prostitute is called a prostitute only if that is her sole, defining profession. However, a woman who has times when she is “kosher” is not considered a prostitute. To relate this teaching to Baalei Batim, even if their profession has them stuck in a spiritually degenerate working place, they are not defined by that, but rather can and do have shaychus to authentic kedusha through their daily mitzvah of tefillin! 

As is illustrated by the above two examples; Baalei Batim’s unique strength in Avodas Hashem is to bring out the personal tangible reality of each Avoda.

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Editor’s note: see Cheshbon Hanefesh 14 (2008-2009) where this teaching from Rav Yisroel Salanter is explored in depth from a slightly different angle.