Mishpatim 5773 – Leisure Culture vs Olam HaBa: Having vs Producing

The parsha gives us numerous Dinei Mamonus, and we generally relate to dinei mamonus in a balabatish way – that since people need to buy stuff for food or clothing or shelter, m’mayla they need to work, and HKBH created a framework of Dinei Mamonus to address various mamonus situations that come up.

However, if we investigate the dinim, we’ll see a completely different takeaway.

For example: There’s the parsha of stealing & shechting a shor or seh, an ox vs a sheep. With the sheep he’s chayav 4 times the value, with an Ox he’s chayav 5 times the value. We understand why a person has to pay back what he stole, but what’s the chiluk of daled v’heh?

The Gemara explains: אמר רבי מאיר בא וראה כמה גדול כח של מלאכה שור שביטלו ממלאכתו חמשה שה שלא ביטלו ממלאכתו ארבעה

Meaning, since the sheep is a non-working animal, he only pays 4 times, but the Ox is a working animal so he pays 5 times. The mashma’us of this answer is that the extra payment is for the loss of potential income. But this needs explanation for a couple of reasons:

First of all, Halachically, causing a potential loss of income which is m’ni’as revach, is usually patur. So, it would seem strange that now we’re mechayav for it.

Second of all, the ox’s income potential is already reflected in the market value of an ox. People pay more for an ox because of it’s ability to work. So, why the extra multiple of heh for loss of income, if the income was already built into the market value?

However, if we pay attention the R’ Meir’s words, he doesn’t seem to be focusing on the loss of income (Hefsed mamom or m’ni’as revach) but instead focusing on the ko’ach melacha and the bittul melacha.

I’m not saying that Chazal are never sensitive to hefsed mamon, or m’ni’as revach. Just see hilchos chol hamoed, where m’ni’as revach is very much factored in. However, over here, the focus is the bittul melacha – which is a concept we also find in other halachos. For example you’re not allowed to make extra aliyos during the week, workers can skip the 4th bracha in bentching, a po’el shouldn’t be a shali’ach tzibbur. These halachos are not just because of a loss of money, but because of bittul melacha. I want to understand what bittul melacha is, if it’s not the same as hafsed mamon or m’ni’as revach.

There’s another Gemara that says:¹

אמר רבי חייא בר אמי משמיה דעולא גדול הנהנה מיגיעו יותר מירא שמים דאילו גבי ירא שמים כתיב {תהילים קיב-א} אשרי איש ירא את ה' ואילו גבי נהנה מיגיעו כתיב {תהילים קכח-ב} יגיע כפיך כי תאכל אשריך וטוב לך אשריך בעולם הזה וטוב לך לעולם הבא ולגבי ירא שמים וטוב לך לא כתיב ביה:

Berachos 8a

Chazal are contrasting “yigiat kapav” vs “yirei shamyim.” The yigi’at kapv is greater because he gets Olam HaBa, but the yirei Shomayim only gets Olam HaZe.

This is a peledik Chazal. First of all, are these mutually exclusive? Can’t you be both a “yigiat kapav” and a “yirei shamyim?” What is the point of comparison here?

Also, it is bizarre to say that the Yorei Shomayim doesn’t get Olam HaBa. Why not? Where’s the shortcoming for the Yorei Shomayim?

Also, why is “yigiat kapav” a ma’aleh for olam haBa? Yigiat kapav is Olam HaZe engagement, so I can understand how it yields a benefit in Olam HaZe terms. But what shaychus does it have to Olam HaBa?

The Maharal is masbir this gemara. He says “neheneh m’yigiat kapav” is the middah histapkus, where a person is satisfied from within. He adds, that if a person in not mistapek m’yigi’at kapav, he would be a chasser. But the one who is nehenah m’yigi’at kapav is not missing anything. And, he adds, that this was the middah of Avraham – who didn’t need anything from Melech Sedom.

Yes, y’gi’at kapav is a good middah, and Avraham Avinu has many wonderful middos, but what’s the real shaychus of this middah to Avraham Avinu.

There’s a Medrash by Avraham Avinu which points in a similar direction:²

אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהָיָה אַבְרָהָם מְהַלֵּךְ בַּאֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם וּבַאֲרַם נָחוֹר, רָאָה אוֹתָן אוֹכְלִים וְשׁוֹתִים וּפוֹחֲזִים, אָמַר הַלְּוַאי לֹא יְהֵא לִי חֵלֶק בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁהִגִּיעַ לְסֻלָּמָהּ שֶׁל צוֹר, רָאָה אוֹתָן עֲסוּקִין בְּנִכּוּשׁ בִּשְׁעַת הַנִּכּוּשׁ, בְּעִדּוּר בִּשְׁעַת הָעִדּוּר, אָמַר הַלְּוַאי יְהֵא חֶלְקִי בָּאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת

Bereishis Rabbah 39:8

Avraham was traveling. He came to a place where people were eating and drinking and said “I don’t want this to be my place.” But when he came to a place where people were working he said “I want this to be my place.” The medrash is highlighting Avraham Avinu’s attitude toward work. But, again, is this attribute specific to Avraham Avinu?

In order to be masbir this, we need to understand that the choshen mishpat halachos – possessions, kinyanim, melacha – are not just functional halachos meant for a functional society, but rather they are addressing a central middah in tzuras ha’Adam.

Avraham Avinu recognized that HKBH is “koneh Shomayim va’aretz.” And because HKBH is koneh, Adam, too is a koneh. Kinyan is a core drive of a person. Ba'alei chai don't have the drive to make a kinyan. They have a drive to have or get, but not to be koneh. Let’s sharpen this point.

There are two ways to acquire something: Taking vs Producing. Both ways help the person have. But they are fundamentally different. L’mashal:

A person wants a cake, so he goes into the store and steals the cake. That’s one way to do it. But there’s another way – where a person plows a field, harvests the grain, and bakes himself a cake.

Both avenues got him the cake, but the difference is min hakatzeh el hakatzeh: One is taking from the outside, the other is bringing out the potential from the inside. Ba’alei Chayim can have a drive to get stuff. They’ll take what they need to survive. But only Adam has the drive to produce – to make a kinyan by bringing out the potential from within.

It’s more than that. When my having is only gotten from the outside, it means that I am a chasser. I am lacking, and my lack can only be filled by something external to me. Such a perspective generates kin’ah, and taking, and even g’zeila. The person still has the drive to acquire, but he feels he can only quell his drive with stuff m’bachutz. He sees himself as a perpetual chasser who is not able to be satisfied.

But when I am a koneh, it means what I have doesn’t come from the outside, but rather from within. This person is not looking for his fill m’bachutz, but he is looking to generate it m’bif’nim. I’m not a chasser, I’m not lacking anything. Everything that I can be koneh is already within me m’bif’nim.

These perspectives are really statements about a person’s relationship to Hashem.

A person can look to HKBH to give him stuff. L’mashal, I want a car. Will HKBH grant it to me? Maybe, maybe not. HKBH knows best. While this perspective sounds right, the error in it is that they perceive their solution as coming from the outside. I need HKBH to give it to me.

This is the perspective of the Y’rei Shomayim. The Y'rei shomayim is not necessarily mistapek b'mu'at. He may feel “I really want another car, but HKBH knows best, so I don't have it. But I really want it.” He’s really a chasser, but he’s learned to accept his limitations.

Y'giya kapayim is a different middah. It's where a person has no interest in anything which he didn't produce. I can only truly be koneh that which HKBH put into me b’ko’ach, and which I bring forth. That which comes out from within me is what’s truly mine. To be like HKBH, my job is to work and bring it out. He only wants what he produces with his y’gi’at kapav. He's not lacking anything from the outside.

This is the difference between Ashrecha v’Tov Lach. Ahsrecha is validated m’bachutz. Like Ishur shtaros, the signature needs to be verified m’bachutz. Being propped up and relying on externalities, that’s a mehalech for Olam HaZe, but that’s not a mehalech for Olam HaBa. Olam Haba is an experience where things darher themselves as truly existing. To truly exist you need to be like HKBH, someone who is koneh Olamo, someone who generates his metzius from within. Tov lach is Olam Haba, because the tov is lach, it comes from within. This is only possible if you're koneh your metzius, and generate your self-sufficiency from within. There’s no makom for a chasser in Olam HaBa.

This self-sufficiency is the hallmark of Avraham Avinu. Avraham was the one who went against the entire world. There was no one to support and encourage his cause. He could not be somech on anyone else but himself. Just like HKBH, if the metzius goes battel, HKBH doesn’t become battel. Avraham Avinu, too. If the rest of the world is pursuing Avodah Zara, that doesn’t derail Avraham Avinu.

This is why Avraham Avinu wasn’t interested in a makom where people just ate and drank and were constantly in vacation mode. These people had it all, they weren’t stealing, but their having didn’t come thru yegi’a. Avraham saw a community that was championing bittul melacha – they were happy and celebrating; it was great! But Avraham Avinu saw that as a churban of tzuras Adam! Which it is!

בא וראה כמה גדול כח של מלאכה. Melacha is a statement that tov is within the briya. It’s thru melacha that brings out the real person – the ko’ach that HKBH planted within the person. It's kodesh kadashim. Bittul melacha is a churban of the briya. The gemara illustrates this: It says a shor tam can become shor mu'ad on Shabbos. Why? Why is Shabbos different than any other day of the week? The gemara answers because of bittul melacha. Meaning, a shor is the briya of melacha itself – it's the work force, that’s what it represents. When the work force becomes battel m'melacha, it becomes a mazik and a mu'ad.

That’s why there’s the extra knas by shor. It’s not because of the loss of income. It’s because of the crime of bittul melacha!³

A person, too, needs to be umel u’mis’yage’ah. We have Shabbos, but b’e'etzem a person is not supposed to be shuvas. Goy she'shavas is chayav missa. Yes, we have Shabbos as a matana from HKBH, but we’re not supposed to lose the yegi’a of the week. It’s the yegi’ah that’s needed to be koneh Olam HaBa.

We don't put enough thought into the mehalech of derech eretz in this world. We know how dehoyben shevet levi is – Hashem hu nachalaso. But someone who is not shevet levi, what should his thought process be? He's not ochel m'shulchan shel gavo'ah, so he's got to get things on his own. But what should his attitude be towards his avodah? This is where having the right hashkafa can make all the difference.

Someone was complaining to me that he didn't have enough off time, vacation time, and his complaint was "when am I living?" When am I living??? This is an incredible kefira in the tzelem E-lokim of Adam. We mistakenly view work as a necessary evil. “B’etzem I want to be relaxing, but I need to make a parnassa, so I begrudgingly work.” That's the exact opposite of the truth! The work is not the evil; it’s the bittel melacha that is the evil. An Adam batel has no metzius, no meaning.

Let's put aside ameilus in ruchniyus and learning for a second. When a person is working, what's your goal? Is it to retire as soon as possible? There's a whole leisure culture that has crept into our hashkafos. People fantasize about retiring, or getting a windfall, or winning the lottery, where they get by without yegi'ya. We even cover it up and justify that thinking by saying "no, it's a time where I'll be able to learn better, daven better, and so on and so forth." It’s hefech tzuras Adam. He's waiting for life to happen m’bachutz. The whole leisure culture basically means I'm waiting to be pampered and entertained. He’s transformed himself into a chasser. It's a churban!

I can understand where a person takes time off to rejuvenate. It’s possible a person over-works and burns out, so they take time off so they can return and be more productive. Or they take a break for a year to buy longevity and add productive years in the future. That's good. It’s like shmitta – the land needs a year fallow to produce better. That's valid.

But when the goal is to lay fallow, when the goal is to be battel m’melacha – where you’re not bringing out what’s within??? That’s running away from your own metzius. That's akin to missa.

A person needs to hear "ehov es hamelacha!" Enjoy amel and melacha. It makes you who you are.

A person needs to understand that gadol hanehne m'yegiat kapav, yoser m'yirei shomayim! Your melacha is actualizing your self-sufficient metzius. Ashrecha v’tov lach! HKBH planted chayei olam within me. By working hard, with your umel and yegi’ah, you become similar to HKBH, Who is koneh Shamayim va’Aretz.

Good Shabbos!