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    THE SUBJECT OF HISHTADLUS

    The subject of
    hishtadlus, how much
    effort should one make
    for certain objectives, is
    a very complex subject.
    Let’s take, for example,
    the hishtadlus for our
    parnassah, our livelihood. Quoting the
    Chovos HaLevovos, Rav Elya Lopian,
    zt”l, zy”a, says that before the sin of
    Adam HaRishon, there would have been
    no need to pursue a livelihood. The
    angels barbequed succulent food for
    Adam and poured him delicious wine. It
    was only when Adam sinned that he was
    cursed, “Bzei’as apecha tochal lechem –
    Through the sweat of your brow will you
    eat bread,” meaning that there became a
    need for hishtadlus.
    The Reishis Chachmah says that the
    39 melachos, creative labors that are
    forbidden on Shabbos, correspond to the
    39 curses that were given to the first man.
    However, continues Rav Lopian, echoing
    the Mesilas Yesharim, the fact that we
    realize that the need of hishtadlus came
    about through a curse should temper
    our involvement in making a livelihood
    to only what is necessary. Thus, we are
    advised in Pirkei Avos, “Hevei mema’eit
    beisek va’asok baTorah – Minimize your
    business involvement and be busy with
    Torah.” Similarly, Beis Shammai says,
    “Asei Torascha keva – Make your Torah
    your permanent occupation.”
    But, striking the right balance between
    Torah and one’s livelihood is a tricky
    business. Especially since making a living
    is a mitzvah in itself. For example, while
    we are not supposed to board a ship later
    than 3 days before Shabbos, for a mitzvah
    one is allowed to board the ship, even on
    erev Shabbos. And the Mordechai says
    going for parnassah is considered such a
    mitzvah. Furthermore, the Rambam says
    that although one cannot simply pick up
    and leave Eretz Yisroel when they live
    there, but for a mitzvah one can exit and,
    he says, one such mitzvah is if you are
    going for parnassah.
    The commentaries cite that the source of
    the injunction of making a livelihood is
    the verse, “Sheishes yamim ta’avod – Six
    days shall you work.” (It is interesting
    to note that the Ramban says that no one
    counts the mitzvah of making a living
    in their list of the 613 mitzvos.) The
    Mishnah also says, “Ehav es hamelachah
    – Love your work.” The Gemara also
    says the famous axiom, “Gedola melacha
    she’michabedes es ba’alah – Great is

    work for it brings honor to the worker.”
    Hardly sounds like we’re engaged in a
    cursed endeavor!
    The Mishna in Pirkei Avos also says,
    “Yafeh salmud Torah im derech eretz,
    she’y’gias sheneihem mashkachash avon
    – The synthesis of Torah and business is
    beautiful for this dual effort “frees us”
    (literally, causes us to forget) from the
    pursuit of sin.”
    Knowing the proper proportions of how
    much time to distribute on Torah, on
    one’s livelihood, one’s family, and one’s
    recreational pursuits is one of the great
    challenges of life. Here’s some helpful
    guidelines.
    We need to know that one’s parnassah
    is fixed on Rosh HaShannah and sealed
    on Yom Kippur. If one does too much
    hishtadlus, it is simply a waste of time.
    They won’t get a penny more than what
    was assigned them on Rosh HaShannah.
    This was one of the lessons of the mon:
    no matter how much was gathered, when
    they got home they found that they had
    no more than the prescribed amount of
    one-tenth of an efah. You might protest,
    “Rabbi, I see that’s simply not true. If
    I stay an extra 3 hours at work, I earn
    double overtime pay and over the course
    of the week, I come home with an extra
    $800.” The answer is that this is just
    incorrect accounting. If you weren’t
    supposed to bring home that extra $2400
    that month, Hashem will cause a leak in
    your roof or a raise in your tuition. We
    can’t outsmart Hashem with superfluous
    hishtadlus.
    But, here’s the rub. Again, how does
    one know how much is too much
    hishtadlus? Since the Mesilas Yesharim
    and the Chovos HaLevovos both tell
    us that this hishtadlus is rooted in the
    curse of the original sin, it is not likely
    that Hashem wants us to miss out on

    minyan three times a day for a cursed-
    based involvement. Similarly, it is highly

    improbable that Hashem would favor
    our abstaining from regular kvias itim
    l’Torah, fixed times for Torah learning
    (which is nitzchius, eternal) every twelve
    hours, for the pursuit of a livelihood that
    became necessary only because of sin.
    We should hear ringing in our ears the
    advice of Shammai, “Aseh Torascha keva
    – Make Torah the main pursuit of your
    life.”
    It is also highly unlikely that Hashem
    expects from us such an abundance of
    hishtadlus which would cause us to rarely

    spend time with our children. Likewise,
    do we believe the Torah wants our wives
    to feel like they are living widows since
    their husband is always buried in the
    office, or too wiped out because of
    such grueling work that they are almost
    worthless even when they are at home?
    If we severely miscalculate the proper
    allocation of time spent to make a living,
    when we get to the next world and are
    shown that we literally and needlessly
    spent tens of thousands of hours when
    we could have been collecting Torah and
    mitzvos, we will be eternally heartbroken.
    The Chofetz Chaim compares superfluous
    hishtadlus to having a cask of wine and
    boring into it a second spout thinking that
    you will then get more wine. Of course,
    in reality, you’re only expending effort
    and you’re still only going to get the same
    amount of wine that was in the barrel in
    the first place.
    He demonstrates this with another
    parable. A young man who couldn’t
    afford the price of a wagon ride stood
    on the side of the road to get a hitch. A
    kind wagon driver stopped and let him
    come in. The young man gratefully got
    into the wagon with his heavy valise and
    proceeded to put the heavy suitcase across
    his lap. The wagon driver observed this
    and told him to put the valise on the floor
    of the wagon. The young man naively
    said, “It’s enough that you’re giving me
    a ride. I don’t want you to have to carry
    the valise as well.” Obviously, the lesson
    of the parable is that there’s no difference
    whether he’s holding the valise or if it’s
    on the floor. So too, Hashem is giving us
    a ride. Any extra effort is like the young
    man holding the suitcase on his lap. As
    the posuk states, “Hashleich al Hashem
    yihavichah v’hu yichalkalecha – Cast
    upon Hashem your burdens and He will
    support you.”
    Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, zy”a, came to
    America in 1937. It was the time of the
    Great Depression and being a Shabbos
    observer was very challenging. In one
    of his drashas given at this time, as
    recorded in the Doreish Moshe, he said
    that in order to get what was promised
    to us on Rosh HaShannah, we have to
    make acceptable hishtadlus. “Can any
    believing Jew think,” asked Rav Moshe,
    “that by working on Shabbos, the income
    of Rosh HaShannah will be released to
    them?”
    A father who was marrying off his son
    came to me early on the wedding day with

    a solemn facial expression. He told me
    that he had a heavy feeling the previous
    night when he was sitting with his son,
    the chosson, filling out the seating cards
    for the wedding. I looked at him with
    surprise and said, ‘So, why are you so
    solemn? It’s such a joyous occasion! Do
    you know how many people would like
    to be in your shoes and marry off a son
    to such a wonderful girl?’ The father
    answered me defensively, ‘Rabbi, don’t
    get me wrong. I’m very grateful. But
    as I was sitting with my son, it struck
    me that this was the last night he will
    be home as an unmarried boy. After
    tonight, he’s moving out. My time with
    him as a permanent resident of my house
    is over. And, Rabbi, I have to tell you,
    I failed him. I hardly learned with him.
    Never did homework with him. Didn’t
    take him out for fun trips and hardly ever
    had father-to-son talks. I was always too
    busy at the office, on the phone, or simply
    collapsing from a rough day at work.’ ”
    Let this father’s brutal revelation be
    a summation of our discussion about
    hishtadlus, and in the merit of striking
    the correct balance in life, may Hashem
    bless us with long life, good health, and
    everything wonderful.