Sunday, November 16, 2014

Another Good Definition

"In modern yeshiva language I would define TIDE as a derech in which having a professional career is actually part of ones derech in Avodas HaShem not something outside of it."

Anonymous comment on bmoftide blog

I certainly look at my career that way. It's not just parnassah, which is the way some people look at work. I see myself as contributing to my host society. I am edified by the chochmah of it. I see God's hand in feeding everyone with whom I work.

8 comments:

  1. Very well said. Both of you. I often say the critical test is what a peroson would do if he won the lottery. A yeshivish person would quit working and study Torah full-time. A Torah im Derech Eretz person would continue working.

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  2. Hmmm. I'd quit working, certainly my current 10 hour a day job. Corporate America is part of the problem though. One wonders if he is helping society with a corporate job particularly in the financial industry which has become one big show.

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  3. Yehudah has a point - but I don't think he's saying you necessarily would stay in the same job you hate - you would continue working in some capacity - but since money isn't the issue, you could get a job you like that contributes positively to society. If you had a big enough lottery win, you could create your own position that would benefit the world -Jewish and gentile - in some way.

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  4. Good point. I think I came across as arguing with Yehudah. I apologize for that. Both of your comments are really good.

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  5. Yisrael, I should've been clearer. I did, indeed, mean what Yisrael said I meant. Not necessarily the same job -- but a job of some sort... some thing the benefits society in some way (even if only in a small way). One of my favorite Gemaras is the one that prohibits a gambler from serving as a witness because he does nothing for "yishuv ha'olam." Imagine that! Being disqualified as a witness because one does not contribute to society in any way.

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    1. That's interesting. Do you know the page? A similar conclusion from a different angle is the Mishnah that says work keeps a person from sin.

      It makes sense to me. I have an instinct for yishuv ha'olam and would even as a lotto winner try to maintain that.

      I would just quit my current job, which I don't like.

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  6. Replies
    1. http://www.come-and-hear.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_24.html

      MISHNAH. AND THESE ARE INELIGIBLE [TO BE WITNESSES OR JUDGES]: A GAMBLER WITH DICE,13

      R. Shesheth said: Such cases do not come under the category of Asmakta;20 but the reason is that they [sc. dice players] are not concerned with the general welfare.21

      21. I.e., they do not contribute to the stability of civilised society.

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