The Ultimate Career

The verse states: “Man was born to toil.” Work gives man the opportunity to “partner with G-d in the act of Creation.” The Talmud asks: Exactly what kind of “toil” was man created for?

The Talmud first assumes that man was created for physical labor. Logic dictates that if man is to be “a partner with G-d in the act of Creation,” he must do exactly what G-d does – cultivate the physical world.

But man cannot transform physicality – for he, too, is physical. Therefore, the Talmud suggests a second answer: man was created to “toil” in prayer. By eliciting G-d’s mercy, man can rise above physical limitations.

The Talmud concludes: Man was created to toil in Torah. Man’s highest attribute is his intellect – not as it serves to refine his emotional attributes in prayer, nor as it serves to guide his physical actions, but as it enables him to delve into Torah’s infinite wisdom.