"God helps those who help themselves!

“God helps those who helps themselves” is a popular English proverb that encourages people to take the initiative in achieving things rather than to wait for everything they desire to fall effortlessly into their hands.

Where does this proverb originate? The information-packed Wikipedia entry on the proverb provides numerous examples of it being found in various forms in ancient Greek and Chinese cultures as well as in Christian, Islamic and Jewish traditions (for example the oft-cited axiom בדרך שאדם רוצה לילך – מוליכים אותו (“On the path that a person wants to go, they take him”, Makkot 10b).

What is the value of this saying? It can be seen both as a positive incentive to take the initiative in meeting one’s needs in the confidence that one will receive divine assistance. But it has also been taken as poor public policy in that it discourages people from helping the poor and needy; after all, God’s help is surely greater than theirs.

What light does Pirkei Avot cast on this long-lived notion? Not a lot, since Avot portrays God mainly as a judge and post-mortem paymaster. The tractate certainly does not address our question directly, since its principal function is to guide us in our interpersonal relations and self-improvement, Even so, there are some small, admittedly tenuous, clues:

Hillel (Avot 1:14) famously asks: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”  This question can be understood in many different ways. One is that it is a rhetorical question. Hillel is actually saying that one has to make an effort and act for oneself if one wants help—and God is the universal provider of help for those who call upon Him.

Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel (Avot 2:14) suggests that a person who borrows—whether from man or from God—and does not repay is wicked. However, where a person does pay back what he owes, God who is righteous will not only gracious but will freely give.

Rabbi Tarfon (Avot 2:20) teaches that “the day is short, the task is massive, the workers are lazy, the reward is great and the Master of the House [i.e. God] is pressing”. From this one can infer that, the harder and faster a person attends to his or her duties, the greater reward, or possibly assistance, will be made available by God.

An anonymous mishnah (5:21) tells us that anyone who invests the masses with merit will be divinely assisted either in not sinning or in not causing others to sin.

Can any reader go further than this? Please post your ideas and suggestions below.