Doing a Mitzvah While Earning a Living

A friend of mine mentioned to me that many of my articles contain personal information, such as references to family and friends. I thought about that, and I agreed with him. My loyal readers already know how many candles my mother-in-law lights for Shabbos (seven), when I shop for my groceries (Thursday night at midnight, or Friday afternoon), who my father-in-law’s rebbi is, what type of gemach my neighbor runs, the name of a chavrusah of mine, what my kids eat for breakfast (oatmeal), and, finally, what brand of diaper my kids wear.

With all this information out there, I should be very concerned about identity theft. I am, but only to a degree. I think some companies go a little too far. I called Keyspan (okay, now you know my gas provider, as well). After I punched in several buttons, the computer said, “You need to speak to a representative.” (I admit that I wanted to speak to a representative, but I don’t think I had a primal need.) Anyway, a representative asked me what I wanted. I said that I wanted to pay my bill. I then furnished my account number. He subsequently asked me to supply the name, address, and phone number associated with the account for verification purposes. I provided him with the information, and then added, “Please put a note on my account that anyone wishing to pay my bill need not be verified. I hereby grant permission to anybody desiring to pay my bill to do so.” The rep chuckled and said, “Just following the regulations.” Seriously, though, if any of my readers wants to pay my gas bill, please feel free to do so.

The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 31b) relates that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai lived for 120 years. For the first 40 years, he was engaged in business. During the next 40 years, he was exclusively engaged in studying Torah. And for the last 40 years of his life, he taught Torah and was a leader of K’lal Yisrael. In fact, his leadership came at a crucial time for the Jewish nation. General Vespasian, who was in charge of the legions attacking Yerushalayim, met with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai. Upon Rabban Yochanan’s request, Vespasian permitted him to set up a yeshiva in Yavneh, and the Sanhedrin was eventually reestablished there. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai’s actions ensured Torah leadership for an orphaned generation bereft of the Beis HaMikdash.

When the Gemara relates that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai engaged in business, it does not mean that it was his sole pursuit. Rather, he studied Torah every free minute he had available. Due to his great spiritual stature and devotion, he was able to become a gadol b’Yisrael even while engaged in earning a livelihood. Of course, supporting oneself and one’s family is a tremendous mitzvah. However, in general, our recent gedolim achieved their stature by being involved solely in learning and teaching Torah.

Many business pursuits and professions have other mitzvos associated with them in addition to the mitzvah of supporting one’s family. An attendee of my daf yomi shiur, Chaim Light, is a mortgage banker at Approved Funding. He received a call from a distraught individual in California. Apparently, she was recovering from cancer and was dealing with the recent passing of a family member after an extended sickness. She had not been able to work for the previous few months, due to the dual illnesses in the family. She fell behind on her mortgage payments and was facing foreclosure. It was a very difficult mortgage to underwrite and approve. Chaim told me that he was willing to forgo any compensation for his time and effort in order to ensure the success of the woman’s application.

When an individual is involved in work, he may view it just as a means to earn a livelihood—which is, in truth, a noble deed. Nevertheless, often there is another angle that can be focused on, and that is the mitzvah of helping others. A mortgage consultant helps people acquire a house who otherwise would be unable to do so. It really is a tremendous chesed to the borrowers to enable them to settle down and achieve a measure of security. The fact that the mortgage consultant usually earns a profit on the deal does not take away from the kindness he is doing. He needs to earn a living and must take a profit. However, the desire to help people can and should also be there. One measure of whether a person’s intentions are for chesed, as well, is the ability to occasionally forgo a profit for the benefit of a needy customer.

There is another mortgage broker in our community who sent his client to someone else because he felt he couldn’t provide the best deal; he didn’t want to earn a profit at the expense of his customer. Once again, that shows that he is not involved in the business solely for the money.

The idea that someone can perform a job and have dual intentions is discussed in the Biur Halachah. Regarding a complex halachic issue, the Chofetz Chaim (Mishnah Berurah 70, B.H. ‘V’Hayah’) differentiates between a sofer who writes tefillin parashiyos only for profit and one whose intentions are also to make tefillin available for his customers to wear. The fact that the sofer needs to earn a livelihood does not take away from the fact he is doing a mitzvah, if the proper intentions are there. Nonetheless, someone whose intentions at his job are solely for profit is denying himself a “free” mitzvah. The Chofetz Chaim rules that a sofer whose intentions are for others’ benefit as well as his own is considered to be engaged in a mitzvah activity.

A while ago, a friend of mine started working at his family’s clothing store. I mentioned to him that the Chofetz Chaim writes in Sefer Ahavas Chesed that helping people purchase clothing is emulating our Creator by being malbish arumim. The Chofetz Chaim writes further that this even applies to wealthy individuals who need clothing. Simply directing a wealthy individual to a store where he can purchase clothing is considered emulating Hashem’s trait of malbish arumim; actively helping customers purchase clothing can certainly also be a mitzvah. To achieve this mitzvah, the salesman just has to have a little extra kavanah—to pay a little more attention to the mitzvah he is fulfilling. The next few times I bumped into my friend, he told me that the Chofetz Chaim’s words had a major impact on him.

To give just one more example from our community; there is a mohel who charges for his services. Once again, that is completely proper. However, he advertises that he is willing to perform a b’ris milah for free for those Yidden who are financially at a disadvantage. This is yet one of many examples of how one’s true intentions can be seen. Of course, it really isn’t relevant whether one’s good intentions are known or not, because Hashem knows what is in a person’s heart.

I hope that we all can take this lesson to heart. Have a Good Shabbos.