Torah with a Job

Today in shul I was asked to say a Mishnah from Pirkei Avos. I randomly opened the siddur to the Mishnah in the second perek

ב,ב רבן גמליאל בנו של רבי יהודה הנשיא אומר, יפה תלמוד תורה עם דרך ארץ, שיגיעת שניהם משכחת עוון; וכל תורה שאין עימה מלאכה, סופה בטילה וגוררת עוון. וכל העמלים עם הציבור, יהיו עמלים עימם לשם שמיים, שזכות אבותן מסייעתן, וצדקתם עומדת לעד. ואתם, מעלה אני עליכם כאילו עשיתם.



To summarize

Rabban Gamliel says that it is beautiful when learning Torah accompanies a job. When one is busy with both, then sin is prevented. On the other hand Torah without a job(like kolel-my insert)in the end will be a waste of time and will in fact cause sin.



What I find extremely interesting is the last part of the same Mishnah which talks about how to contribute and participate in helping the community. The Mishnah says that one should do it for the sake of heaven and if he does, then the merit of the ancestors will help him and in the end the credit will be his. I believe that it is not just a coincidence the linking of this part of the Mishnah to the first.

A person who only learns Torah and does not support himself does not understand or even know the needs of the congregation. In fact he himself is being supported by the congregation and therefore cannot have a non biased approach to what is good or bad for the community. It is only the person that is involved in the "ways of the world"(working for a living),that can really understand what is good or bad. Then the Mishnah warns the working man that he remember that he should not be influenced by his selfish needs(honor etc) in helping the community. Instead he should look at the earlier righteous generations that were involved in building the community and use them as the measuring stick and guide to his decisions on how to help. It is with this process that he can ensure will be acting for the sake of heaven and the credit or imprint on society and on the world will be his.

On a macro level that is why we talk about our forefathers when we start the Shemoneh Esreh. We begin by thinking about how we can continue the process that our forefathers started of improving the community and the world so that we can act for the sake of heaven and not our selfish needs.