Hard Work Is Holy

When I was in Yeshiva, I was quite jealous of a close friend of mine.  He seemed to doze off when we studied Talmud, but somehow all the information seemed to have been downloaded into his brain.  He seemed to have eaten the information for breakfast.  

The passionate guy that I am :-), I often was jealous of those who seemed to be in full control of their emotions.  No misplaced anger or impatience.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to accept that Hashem has a unique plan for me and has set the stage for that plan by giving me the appropriate challenges and talents.  I’ve come to appreciate that hard work is a Torah value.  While it seems nice when it comes easy, it poses a different type of challenge; where does the one who has it easy work hard? 

In the opening of this week’s Parsha, we read of the acquisition of the Mearat Hamachpelah (the doubled cave in Hebron) where our forefathers and mothers are buried.  Abraham approaches Efron the Hittite to purchase the cave.  Efron offers to give it to Avraham for free, as a gift.  Avraham refuses to accept it for free and pays top dollar for the cave.

The commentators tell us that Avraham had a right to take the land on account of Hashem’s promise to him that the land would be his.  At the least, he could have accepted it as a gift.  Yet, Avraham pays a full dollar.  His intention that Efron’s name should not be associated with the cave, that Efron should have no claim of pride over the land that he gave to Abraham. 

Abraham’s act teaches us a powerful lesson. Each of us has our portion of land that belongs to us; our portion in the world that by Divine design was orchestrated for us to influence and transform and acquire.  This begins with our internal mechanism, character, strengths, and weaknesses. It continues with the environment of our home and then our influence in the workplace and the outside world.

It may be tempting to wish that this work was easy.  Avraham teaches us that if we want to succeed fully at this mission, we have to work hard. The hard work accesses the true depth of ourselves and the world around us and ensures that the transition and transformation to holiness are complete.

While we prefer not to have challenges, it is in the challenge that we access the true depths.

And if you are one of those people that have it easy; your job is to dig and challenge yourself past your comfort zone, because that is where success is found.

Good Shabbos!

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