Love work -- seriously?

Love, according to the famous lyric, is a many-splendored thing. We spend much of our waking time giving it, receiving it from others, seeking it and feeling miserable or even depressed when we can’t find it. Love is also a much over-used word. Objects of love, in colloquial terms, include sports teams, TV and movie stars, musicians, chocolate cake and a refreshing shower at the end of a long, hard day. For the committed Jew, one’s finest and most powerful love is reserved for God, wherever one might find or relate to Him.

In the first part of a three-part mishnah, Shemayah teaches us אֱהוֹב אֶת הַמְּלָאכָה, “Love work!” What does this mean? The more one thinks about this question, the less easy it is to answer. Many people gain enjoyment from their gainful occupation. Sometimes it is the work they do, sometimes the money they earn, or it may be the facilities or one’s the colleagues that provide the greatest degree of pleasure—but is this “love” in any meaningful sense of the word?

The classical commentators explain how important it is to work. According to Rabbenu Yonah and the Bartenura, one should work even if there is no compelling need to do so, since it keeps one occupied and staves off boredom. The commentary ascribed to Rashi adds that one should certainly work when one needs to do so, rather than sit on one’s hands and expect others to provide support on account of one’s feeling of self-importance.

Later commentators add further perspectives to these views. Thus Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner adds that it is better to earn one’s keep and be a follower than to be a communal leader who is funded by others, an explanation that links to the next part of the Mishnah that urges one to hate leadership. Maharam Shik focuses on the idea of the work being the study of Torah while Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski looks at the work performed by those who wield authority. Irving M. Bunim highlights the fact that the word Shemayah uses for “work” is melachah, indicating a craft or skill, rather than manual labour. But even so, it is not self-evident why one should love work, or even why Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi should include this teaching in Avot at all, when Ben Zoma’s teaching at Avot 4:1 cites a parallel verse from Tehillim 128:2 יְגִֽיעַ כַּפֶּֽיךָ כִּי תֹאכֵל, אַשְׁרֶֽיךָ וְטוֹב לָךְ (“If you eat of toil of your hands, you are fortunate are you and it is good for you”).

This passage from Rabbi Yaakov Hillel, Eternal Ethics from Sinai, set me thinking. Citing Rabbi Shlomo Eliyahu’s Kerem Shlomo, he writes:

“A merchant buys flax in America, and ships it to China to be spun into threat. From there, it goes to Europe to be woven into fabric. The fabric is sent to Eretz Yisrael where it is cut and sewn into garments worn in honor of Shabbat. Its use for a mitzvah elevates the holy sparks invested in all of the many components of the finished product. This is the real reason why we should love work—because of the spiritual elevation of the nitzotzot [sparks] that it brings about”.

Regardless of one’s view of Kabbalah, what shines through here is the notion that the work one loves need not be one’s own work at all, but work that is done by others for positive purposes, whether related to a mitzvah or simply to the benefit of others. One’s love in such a situation is therefore a deep feeling of gratitude and appreciation of the work that is done for one’s benefit, whether one has any connection with those who do the work or not.