For many people, their job feels like an interruption to their Avodas Hashem. Yes, parnassa brings real nisyonos: honesty in business, shmiras einayim, and more. But the deeper question is not about the nisyonos themselves, but how we understand the role of work in the flow of our avodas Hashem. Chazal give a surprising lens. The Midrash Rabbah teaches that after over twenty years working for Lavan, Yaakov Avinu understood that Hashem protected his life in the merit of his work. On this Rebbe Yirmiya said: “חביבה היא המלאכה מזכות אבות” — work is more precious than the merit of the Avos.
Think about that: Yaakov Avinu — bearer of Zechus Avos, embodiment of and Torah — and yet it is the merit of work that protects him. Work, then, is not an obstacle to ruchniyus; it’s the pathway to getting there.
The Mechilta adds another remarkable teaching. On the pasuk “ששת ימים תעבד ועשית כל מלאכתך ויום השביעי שבת לה’ אלקיך — Six days you shall work and do all your labor, and the seventh day is Shabbos to Hashem, your G-d, ” Rebbe teaches that just as Klal Yisrael was commanded in the mitzvah of Shabbos, they were also commanded in work. Work is part of a Yid’s avodas Hashem, not an interruption to it.
So the question becomes: does your avodas Hashem shut down after Shacharis and reopen at Mincha, or does it — as a Baal Shem Tov Yid experiences in practice — extend into your workday and continue through every hour of life? When avodas Hashem is understood as continuous, the workday is no longer a break in ruchniyus. It becomes part of the same flow of avodah — an ongoing opportunity for dveykus with Hashem.
This “Work Inspired” series will continue next week.
Rabbi Yehoshua Gerzi and R’ Tzvi Broker run the Work Inspired chabura, offering a practical Torah-based framework to help Yidden build a healthier, more balanced approach to parnassa, with focus on simcha, fulfillment, and purpose in work. Learn more at workinspiredcourse.com
Take It to Go!
- Start your workday the Torah way
When leaving shul in the morning, say to yourself:
ששת ימים תעבד — I am moving from one mitzvah into another.
Then, as you arrive at work and pause at the mezuza, think:
חביבה היא המלאכה — My work is beloved to Hashem.
I am bringing Hashem into my workday.
- Bringing Yaakov into your workday
When you daven Mincha during your workday, pause for a moment of kavana on the words:
אלקי יעקב – G-d of Yaakov
Think:
Yaakov Avinu is my model for bringing dveykus into work. My connection to Hashem flows through my work and not despite it.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 96.
