08 Jul BALAK: OUR LIVES ARE BLESSED!

The Hovot Ha’levavot writes
that when a person goes out
to work in the morning, he
should have kavanah that he
is now performing a mitzvah,
fulfilling Hashem’s command
that he work to earn a
livelihood. A person shouldn’t go to work
begrudgingly, wishing he could just stay
home and do nothing. Rather, he should think
to himself that he performs a mitzvah, since,
after all, it is Hashem’s will that a person
work to support himself and his family.
In presenting this idea, the Hovot Ha’levavot
brings a pasuk from the story of creation.
After Hashem created Adam and Havah, the
first human beings, he placed them in Gan
Eden “to work in the garden, and to guard it”
(Bereshit 2:15). This pasuk, the Hovot
Ha’levavot writes, is the source of the notion
that we fulfill Hashem’s will by working for a
livelihood.
It is noteworthy that the Hovot Ha’levavot
chose to bring this pasuk, which refers to
Adam and Havah’s life in Gan Eden before
the sin. As we know, Adam and Havah were
soon banished from Gan Eden because they
partook of the forbidden fruit, and Hashem
decreed that Adam would have to work very

hard to earn a livelihood: “By the sweat of
your brow shall you eat bread” (Bereshit
3:19). Hashem cursed the land, such that it
would not produce food without lots of hard
work. Already before the sin, Adam and
Havah needed to work, but after the sin, the
work became much more grueling.
We would certainly assume that this second
pasuk is far more relevant to our situation,
which the Hovot Ha’levavot addresses. As we
all know, we need to work very hard to
support ourselves and our families, and this is
because of the curse which Hashem
proclaimed after Adam and Havah’s sin. Why,
then, did the Hovot Ha’levavot bring the first
pasuk, which describes work before Adam
and Havah’s sin, as the source of the “mitzvah”
to work for a living?
Perhaps we can find the answer in our
parashah, Parashat Balak.
Balak, the king of Moav, sent a delegation to
Bilam, asking him to come and place a curse
on Beneh Yisrael. Hashem appeared to Bilam
and said, Lo Teor Et Ha’am Ki Baruch Hu –
“Do not curse the nation, because they are
blessed” (22:12). Rashi explains that Hashem
first told Bilam, Lo Teor Et Ha’am – not to
curse Beneh Yisrael. Bilam then asked if he
should bless them, instead. Hashem replied,

Ki Baruch Hu – the people were already
blessed, and they did not require Bilam’s
blessing.
What does this mean? Why did Hashem not
want Bilam to bless the people?
The answer, sadly, is found all around us, and
perhaps even within ourselves.
So many people are waiting to be blessed, not
realizing that they are already blessed. So
many people complain and feel unhappy,
seeing themselves as deprived, and their lives
as “cursed,” when in truth, they are blessed.
They are unhappy and discontented, because
they don’t see that they already have so much
blessing.
Hashem was telling Bilam that Benei Yisrael
are already blessed, and they do not need him
to bless them. And this is the perspective we
should have, as well. Of course, it is perfectly
acceptable to want things we don’t have, and
to pray for these things. However, we must
always remember Ki Baruch Hu – that we are
already blessed, that we already have so many
beautiful blessings, that we are so fortunate,
that Hashem has bestowed upon us so many
wonderful gifts. We don’t need to wait for
bracha to feel blessed, because Baruch Hu –
we already have a great deal of bracha in our
lives.
This might explain why the Hovot Ha’levavot
chose the pasuk describing Adam and Havah
before their banishment from Gan Eden. He is
indicating to us that we are to see our lives as
blessed, not cursed. Even if we need to work
long hours at a job we do not love, we are to
feel blessed, as if we are in Gan Eden, because
we are doing what Hashem wants us to do. We
shouldn’t see our jobs as a curse, but rather as
a blessing. We should go to work and do all
the things we need to do – even the hard
things! – with a feeling of Ki Baruch Hu, that
we are blessed, that we have the good fortune
of living our lives in the service of Hashem
and under His constant, loving care.