Hard Work

Found 5 Search results

  1. The Enslavement of Israel and the Death Sentence for Newborn Boys

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    A close look at the enslavement of Am Yisrael in the opening chapters of Shemot, reveals that the story is told in two parallel parts, offering a contrast of the two types of edicts.

  2. Summertime, and the Living is Easy- Or is it?

    HaTanakh.com Staff

  3. Yaakov and Lavan: Workers and Employers

    Rabbi David Silverberg

  4. Psalm 127: The Difference Between “In Vain” and “Tranquility”

    Part 3

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The building of a house lasts for a limited time. When the action is complete, the house stands firm, and its inhabitant has satisfied his existential need for shelter.

    The guarding of a city, in contrast, is an action that continues – every day and every night. However, this action is not one that every person engages in. The city guards are a small, defined group of people for whom guarding is a permanent, professional occupation. Furthermore, while guarding the city is unquestionably a position of great responsibility, it does not involve much physical effort.

    In a league of its own is the Sisyphean effort to make a living. This ongoing effort is the lot of every person, for all of his life. It requires that a person devote his days, from early in the morning until the evening, to hard work involving physical and mental exertion.

    Not only the relatively brief endeavors (such as building a house) or professional specializations (like guarding) whose success depends on Divine involvement and help, but also – and especially – the endeavor that is most characteristic of the human condition, and the most demanding: making a living.

  5. Psalm 127: The Difference Between “In Vain” and “Tranquility”

    Part 4

    Rabbi Elchanan Samet

    The classical commentators, along with most modern scholars, understand the word “shena” as though it ended with a ‘heh’ instead of an ‘alef’ – in other words, “sleep."  This interpretation serves to link this phrase with the preceding stanza, which spoke about people who arise early in the morning and settle to sleep late, all because of their work.  Thus the verse depicts a contrasting picture of God granting to “His beloved” the “sleep” that they need. However, these commentators introduce new difficulties – ideological and exegetical ones - into understanding the verse and the psalm.