There seems to be those that would turn our Stay at Home order , this "Quarantine" into an opportunity to produce, create, or win awards for baking, art work, or "best parent of all time". Social Media, our means of staying connected, adds to the pressure. We are posting more than ever of our adventures at home, attempting to stay positive but rarely showing the darker side of this pressure. Feelings of inadequacy result, and we sink deeper, thinking that we have "wasted" our time away from work, squandered our "break" from routine.
What does our tradition say about how to value our "work" or how much to "produce" even during this strange time? How can we use this time to "just be" and to heal from all the pressure, anxiety and fear?
(6) Lazybones, go to the ant; Study its ways and learn. (7) Without leaders, officers, or rulers, (8) It lays up its stores during the summer, Gathers in its food at the harvest. (9) How long will you lie there, lazybones; When will you wake from your sleep? (10) A bit more sleep, a bit more slumber, A bit more hugging yourself in bed, (11) And poverty will come calling upon you, And want, like a man with a shield.
- It's important to first recognize that our tradition believes in a strong work ethic! What can we learn from this text?
- Has this line of thinking been ringing in your ears? Where do you feel pressure to produce?
(טז) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה ...
(16) He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it...
- We know we come from a tradition that values a strong work ethic. How does this text offer some balance to the first text?
- The rabbis insist this text was in reference to Torah Study, which they deemed as necessary and important as work. If you are trying on something new (a new skill, a new role at home) how does this text help you understand how you might tackle it?
(טז) וַיִּגְּשׁ֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ וַ֣יֹּאמְר֔וּ גִּדְרֹ֥ת צֹ֛אן נִבְנֶ֥ה לְמִקְנֵ֖נוּ פֹּ֑ה וְעָרִ֖ים לְטַפֵּֽנוּ׃
(16) Then they [the Reubenites and Gadites] stepped up to [Moses] and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children."
(כד) בְּנֽוּ־לָכֶ֤ם עָרִים֙ לְטַפְּכֶ֔ם וּגְדֵרֹ֖ת לְצֹנַאֲכֶ֑ם וְהַיֹּצֵ֥א מִפִּיכֶ֖ם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃
(24) [Moses:] "Build towns for your children and sheepfolds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”
- What is the difference between the two verses?
- why might that be important?
(א) נבנה למקננו פה. חסים היו על ממונם יותר מבניהם ובנותיהם שהקדימו מקניהם לטפם. אמר להם לא כן עשו העיקר עיקר והטפל טפל בנו לכם תחלה ערים לטפכם ואחר כך גדרות לצאנכם (תנחומא ז):
(1) נבנה למקננו פה WE WILL BUILD [SHEEP FOLDS] FOR OUR CATTLE HERE — They paid more regard to their property than to their sons and daughters, because they mentioned their cattle before their children. Moses said to them, “Not so! Make the ikar the ikar, and what is secondary (tafel), secondary. First build cities for your little ones and afterwards enclosures for your flocks” (cf. v. 24) (Midrash Tanchuma, Matot 7).
- How does Rashi help us understand our obligation to work with his rendering of the text?
- How can this commentary help us today, how should we be tackling our "work"?
תפסת מרובה לא תפסת תפסת מועט תפסת
If you grasped many (merubeh), you did not grasp anything; if you grasped few (mu'at), you grasped something.
This text is taken slightly out of context from a segment of Talmud trying to determine that food impurity applies only to an egg's volume of food. Of course the Rabbis want to know what size egg - the size of an ordinary chicken egg or of the enormous egg of the mythical Bar Juchne bird, It replies tafasta merube lo tafasta, meaning: in cases of uncertainty, go with the smaller amount, in this case meaning a chicken egg. Even in modern Hebrew though it has been used to remind us not to bite off more than we can chew!
- Sage old wisdom... Even in our "required" work - how can this text help us?
Tales of the Hasidim • Martin Buber
A rabbi named Zusya died and went to stand before the judgment seat of God. As he waited for God to appear, he grew nervous thinking about his life and how little he had done. He began to imagine that God was going to ask him, "Why weren't you Moses or why weren't you Solomon or why weren't you David?" But when God appeared, the rabbi was surprised. God simply asked, "Why weren't you Zusya?"
The message of this text is clear - we will only be judged in comparison to ourselves.
- Can you give yourself permission to not be as "good" as you think you need to be? What would that require?
- What would be so terrible if we got to the other side of this and we didn't pick up guitar playing, or write a novel, or start a new business?
- What if what we are meant to be doing is just learning more how to be "Zusya" so... how can you be more true to yourself, during this time? What do you need to do in order to "just be" verse "produce"?