Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Work can be a Mystical Experience

 Michtav M’Eliyahu (1 page 34) In the Torah it is written: "And Enoch walked with G-d", and the Sages said that Enoch sewed shoes for his profession, and for each stitch that he sewed he had a  special unity with G-d. And I heard in the name of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, who explained this statement very nicely, and he said, it can not be understood that at the time he was sewing that he had his thoughts directed to higher matters because such is clearly prohibited by halacha because a worker is not to be thinking about matters other than his work that he is doing for his employer Rather, what is meant by the unification with G-d, is what he thought in  his heart and mind, that  every stich should be good and strong, and that the shoes should be good, so that they would provide benefit to the one who would wear them. Enoch was attached to G-d in a similar manner in that he was concerned with providing others with good and pleasure. In other words he was imitating G-d in that he had no desire for anything other than the welfare of others and consequently he had not the slightest negative thoughts or deeds  about others. 

1 comment:

  1. A highly skilled craftsman doesn't need to think of his work and can be meyached yichudim without reducing its quality.

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