In an article for the Financial Times, Author Simon Kuper notes that for a very long time people have had professional identities which could be described as “We are what we do.” We choose professions that suit our identity, and then those professions enhance our identity. For example meticulous types become accountants, and then their work makes them even more meticulous. Kuper argues that this era is ending and the reality is changing. In his words, “Ever fewer of us have satisfying jobs or stay in the same profession for life. People are ceasing to be their jobs. And this is forcing them to find new identities.”
Parshat Behar opens with the mitzvah of Shemitah. Every seventh year, farmers must cease working their land to create what the Torah calls a “Shabbat La’Hashem.” What did these farmers do during Shemita? Rabbi Ovadia Seforno comments that farmers were to devote the Sabbatical year to spiritual goals: learn more Torah, spend more time in prayer and contemplation, spend more time with family and take advantage of all that God’s world has to offer. By doing so, perhaps they would develop a new talent or pursue an interest that these farmers didn’t usually have time for. According to Seforno by the end of Shemitah, instead of just answering “I’m a farmer”, they would hopefully have a richer and more varied answer to the question of “what do you do?”
The mitzvah of Shemitah affords us the opportunity to think about the relationship and difference between what we do and who we are. But this is something too important to think about just once every seven years. Both Rashi and Seforno note that the description of Shemitah as “Shabbat La’Hashem” is the same terminology used by the Torah to describe the Shabbat that occurs every seven days. In Friday night Kiddush we say
“Ki Sheshet Yamim Asah Hashem et Hashamayim V’et Ha’aretz”
God created the heaven and earth in six days.
“Uvayon Hashevii, Shavat Vayinafash”- and on the Seventh Day He rested and He was refreshed.
What does it mean that God rested and was refreshed? Hashem has no need for rest!
Rabbi Jacob Rubenstein zt’l explained that for six days Hashem was an architect, a designer, a builder, a molder- He was defined by what He did. But on the seventh day, Hashem stopped being something and returned to His Essence. We too must look to Shabbat to refresh ourselves. All week long we are defined by what we do: we are labelled most often by how we work and what we create. We are doctors, lawyers, merchants, etc. On Shabbat we must refresh our souls by nurturing our identity that is independent of our outputs.
It is oftentimes at the Shabbat table that the question of “so what do you do?” will arise. It is meant to be a conversation starter, a way to relate and show an interest in one’s guests or host. Let the lessons of Shabbat LaHashem inspire us to consider offering Shemitah inspired answers to the question “what do you do?” Here are some suggestions:
“I am a spouse, a parent, a child, a sibling.” “I am a friend; a neighbor.” “I enjoy visiting lighthouses and reading nonfiction books on the beach.” “I like to ride the miniature train at Trade Winds Park.” “I volunteer at a soup kitchen” “I enjoy listening to classical music and participating in spirited davening in shul.” The list goes on and on- for each farmer, for each of us.
Let the lessons of “Shabbat La’Hashem” also inspire us to ask different questions of each other - and of ourselves.
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