How would you like to put up your feet and relax for the rest of your life? Sounds tempting, perhaps, but in reality, there’s no such opportunity. Life is about work; we weren’t put here to take it easy.
The pasuk says 14,29 “in order that Hashem your G-d will bless you in all your handiwork that you may undertake.” Chazal say, “I would have thought that even if one sits and does nothing he will receive the bracha, but the pasuk says, “b’chal maaseh yadecha asher taaseh.” We learn from here the obligation that one has to do hishtadlus to earn a living and not to sit idle. If we do our hishtadlus then we will receive the blessing that Hashem wishes to give us.
Mesilas Yesharim perek 21 tells us that before Adam sinned, he did not have to extend any effort to receive his sustenance. The gemora says in Sanhedrin 59: that Adam would recline in Gan Eden and the angels would roast meat and strain wine for him. After Adam sinned, he became unworthy of this and now he had to work for his parnasa. That is the penalty that Hashem gave to all of mankind after Adam’s sin; we must work for our sustenance. Ramchal calls it a tax that we have to pay which can’t be evaded. And the ba’alei hamussar explain that just as no person would opt to pay more tax that he has to, so too should a person not seek to do more hishtadlus than necessary. We should try to keep this “tax” of hishtadlus to the bare minimum that’s required. Yet pay it we must, due to the curse of “bezei’as apecha tochal lechem”. That’s our tax.
So, a person has to work, and to the eye it seems that our work is what brings our paycheck. But that’s all an illusion. Our sustenance comes from Hashem and our hishtadlus is merely the key that opens the door to the brocha that Hashem has placed there for you. We have to realize that hishtadlus does not bring the parnasa. At the same time, you can’t take it easy and expect your paycheck to rain down from the sky. A true master of bitachon can do a drop of hishtadlus and leave it at that. But for the majority of us, we are required to work for our parnasa while realizing that our parnasa doesn’t come from our hishtadlus.
The Chovos Halevavos in shaar habitachon (end of perek 3) seems to say differently than the Mesilas Yesharim, that even before Adam sinned he was required to do hishtadlus. After he sinned, Hashem told him that man has to work hard for parnasa - “By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread.” But the Chovos Halevavos says in perek 4 that just like no human has control over life, death, and health, so do they not have control over parnasa. Hashem manages all of a person’s affairs and knows what’s best for him. And nothing happens against Hashem’s Will. Therefore, we should surrender to Hashem’s decision, trusting that whatever it may be, it is for our benefit. We just have to do our hishtadlus and Hashem will provide in accordance with His decision.
If a person fails to make hishtadlus, there is no guarantee that he will receive what he needs. Hashem may have decreed that unless he works to sustain himself, he will not survive. But once a person does the proper hishtadlus, Hashem guarantees that his essential needs will be met, whether via those efforts or in some other way.
If we believe that hishtadlus doesn’t really do anything, why do we need to do hishtadlus?
Furthermore, we all know that our sustenance is set from Rosh Hashana; if so, how is hishtadlus going to help?
The Ramban 6:19 asks, why did Hashem commend Noach to work hard and build a teiva if the teiva he built didn’t have enough room for all the animals anyways? It was a miracle that all the animals fit, so Hashem could have made a bigger miracle by not having him to build a teiva altogether. The Ramban answers (his 2nd answer) that Hashem instructed that the teiva be made large in order to lessen the magnitude of the miracle. This is the norm of all miracles related in the Torah - that man is expected to whatever is possible for the human hand to do and only the rest that is beyond human ability is left to Hashem. So that’s the reason why we are obligated to do hishtadlus; it is to minimize the miracle of parnasa.
The Chovos Halevavos gives us two reasons for hishtadlus. The first reason is to test man to see if he will act honestly and according to the Torah when engaged in business. Someone once asked the Chofetz Chaim if he could lie in order to earn money. The Chofetz Chaim replied, “Who feeds you?” “Hashem, of course”, replied the person asking the question. “So”, said the Chofetz Chaim “do you mean to say that Hashem can only provide you with parnasa through you lying?!” Anyone who thinks that he must lie to earn a parnasa doesn’t understand that Hashem is providing. That’s the nisayon of hishtadlus, to act properly in business.
The second reason for hishtadlus is to keep man busy so that he will not have time to sin. If one wouldn’t be busy pursuing a parnasa, he will spend time doing aveiros instead. That’s what Chazal say (Devarim 32:15) that Torah and hard work is the best path, as the toil in both will keep us away from sin. That’s why we have to work - to stay occupied and stay away from sin.
Rav Asher Zelig Rubinstein said over a story that the Klausenberger Rebbe began “Mifal Hashas” thirty years ago. They had to learn seventy blatt per month including gemora, Rashi and Tosfos. You had to be very smart to be part of the program. Someone asked the Rebbe, “Are you fooling yourself to think that with the quick pace and large amount of blatt required, people will end up knowing shas with your program”? The Rebbe replied, “No, my objective was to create a program that would keep participants so busy that they would have no time to do aveiros”.
The pasuk says in Iyov 5:7 “Adam l’amal yulad”, man was created to toil. You must sweat and be productive in whatever you do. There’s nothing worse than taking life easy; it’s the root of evil.
Rav Asher Zelig said that in the generation of the midbar, the Yidden learned in yeshiva all day and that’s how they kept busy. They only committed ten aveiros in forty years (bamidbar 14:22). That’s not bad at all compared to us.
The Mishna in Kesubos 59: tells us that even if a woman gets married and her family provides maidservants to do all the housework for her, she must still do work herself because free time leads to insanity and immorality. This is the problem of the world today. We live in an abnormal world where people have too much free time on their hands. Every person must work hard and collapse into bed at night. If they don’t work hard, it’s no wonder they’re suffering from depression, anxiety, and sadness. Life must be lived and experienced to the fullest. Toiling is the only way to lead a fulfilling and productive life.
So as we dream of vacations and relaxation, let’s also keep in mind that this world wasn’t designed for us to take it easy. We are meant to work, to toil, but knowing all the while that the toil isn’t producing our livelihood. It’s all Hashem.
