READING: between after midnight and sunrise of Monday

Lesson on the topic of “The Work Is The Reward”

The Work Is The Reward

1. RABASH, Article No. 13 (1989), “What Is the ‘Bread of an Evil-Eyed Man’ in the Work?”

We must aim—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that our reward will be that by this we will be rewarded with emerging from the exile and enslavement in the will to receive for ourselves, and we will be able to work only in order to bring contentment to the Creator, and we will not demand any other reward for our work in Torah and Mitzvot.

In other words, we want to be rewarded with feeling—while engaging in Torah and Mitzvot—that we are serving a great and important king, and that by this there will be love of the Creator within us, from feeling His exaltedness. However, all of our pleasure will come from serving the Creator; this will be our reward, and not that He will somehow reward us for the work. Instead, we will feel that the work itself is the reward, and there is no greater reward in the world than the privilege of serving the Creator.

2. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 4, “What Is the Reason for the Heaviness One Feels when Annulling before the Creator, in the Work?”

The essence of one’s work is only to come to feel the existence of the Creator, meaning to feel the existence of the Creator, that “the whole earth is full of His glory,” and this will be one’s entire work. That is, all the energy one puts into the work will be only to achieve this, and nothing else.

One should not be misled into having to acquire anything. Rather, there is only one thing a person needs: faith in the Creator. He should not think of anything, meaning that the only reward that he wants for his work should be to be rewarded with faith in the Creator.

3. RABASH, Article No. 31 (1987), “What Is Making a Covenant in the Work?”

As in corporeality, a person is used to working in a place where he knows he will be rewarded for his work. Otherwise, a person cannot work for free, if not for his own benefit. Only when he sees that self-benefit will come from this work does he have the strength to work enthusiastically and willingly, since he is looking at the reward and not at the work.

The work does not matter if a person understands that here he will receive from this employer twice as much as he would receive from working for the previous employer, before he came to the job where they pay twice as much. This means that according to the salary, so the work becomes easier and smaller.

4. Baal HaSulam, Article No. 5 (1986), “Concerning Respecting the Father”

If one wants to test if he is advancing in the work, he should do it in two ways: 1) by looking at the reward he hopes to receive from the Creator. If he is receiving a greater reward each day then the gauge is the vessels of reception. 2) How much he enjoys delighting the Creator, and all his reward is that he is bestowing upon the Creator. For example, if he is serving the greatest man in the country, he enjoys it. But if he is serving the greatest in the generation, he certainly enjoys it more. Therefore, he wants the Creator to be greater and more important in his eyes each day. This is the real measurement.

5. RABASH, Article No. 26 (1987), “What Is a Light Commandment?”

If a person calculates and says, “I do not care if this is a great or small offense,” that is, if I were working for a reward, then I would distinguish between a light Mitzva and a grave one. But I am working without reward, but only in order to serve the King, so why should I mind whether I am observing a light Mitzva or a grave one? On the contrary, I want to be careful with a light Mitzva as with a grave one in order to know about myself that I am working only for the Creator. By this, I can know if I am considering the reward or the service of the King. If a person can exert the same efforts with a light Mitzva as on a grave one, he can be certain that his actions are just fine.

But if he sees that he cannot exert the same efforts on light Mitzvot as he exerts on grave Mitzvot, it is a sign that his intention is only the reward, and not the actions that he wants to please the Creator. Rather, it is all for his own benefit.

6. RABASH, Article No. 21 (1987), “What Are Dirty Hands in the Work of the Creator?”

When a person wants to walk on the path of truth, to observe Torah and Mitzvot in order to bestow, what should he do? The advice for this is to first of all aim before every action, which reward he expects for the actions he is about to do. At that time he needs to tell himself, “Since I want to serve the Creator, and since I cannot, since the will to receive within me will not let me, hence, through the actions I am about to do, the Creator will give me the real desire to bring contentment to the Creator.

7. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 20, “Lishma [for Her sake]”

If one considers what one receives for his work under the sun, he will find that it is not so difficult to submit himself to the Creator, for two reasons:

1. One must strain oneself in this world in any case, whether one wants to or not.

2. During the work, too, if one works Lishma, he receives pleasure from the work itself.

It is as the Sayer from Dubna said about the verse, “You did not call Me, Jacob, for you labored about Me, Israel.” It means that he who works for the Creator has no labor. On the contrary, one has pleasure and elation.

8. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”

When one comes and says that he exerted extensively in observing Torah and Mitzvot, the Creator tells him, “You did not call Me, Jacob.” In other words, it is not My baggage that you took. Rather, this baggage belongs to someone else. Since you say that you had much effort in Torah and Mitzvot, you must have had a different landlord for whom you worked; so go to him to pay you.

This is the meaning of “for you labored about Me, Israel.” This means that he who works for the Creator has no labor, but on the contrary, pleasure and elation. But one who works for other goals cannot come to the Creator with complaints that the Creator does not give him vitality in the work, since he did not work for the Creator, for the Creator to pay for his work.

9. RABASH, Article No. 844, “Labor Is the Reward”

“According to the labor, so is the reward.” In other words, afterward, he sees that the labor he gave was his reward. To the extent of the labor, so is the reward, since the labor is the reward, and the Creator gave him the desire to labor.

10. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 19, “What Is ‘The Creator Hates the Bodies,’ in the Work?”

For the effort to make contact with the Creator, there is a very harsh condition here: The effort must be in the form of adornment. “Adornment” means something that is important to a person. One cannot work gladly if the labor is not of importance, meaning that one is happy that now he has contact with the Creator.

11. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 5, “Lishma Is an Awakening from Above, and Why Do We Need an Awakening from Below?”

It is written, “Then shall you delight in the Lord.” The meaning of “Then” is that first, in the beginning of his work, he did not have pleasure. Instead, his work was coercive.

But afterward, when he has already accustomed himself to work in order to bestow and not examine himself—if he is feeling a good taste in the work—but believes that he is working to bring contentment to his Maker through his work, he should believe that the Creator accepts the work of the lower ones regardless of how and how much is the form of their work. In everything, the Creator examines the intention, and this brings contentment to the Creator. Then one is rewarded with “delight in the Lord.”

Even during the work of the Creator he will feel delight and pleasure since now he really does work for the Creator because the effort he made during the coercive work qualifies him to be able to truly work for the Creator. You find that then, too, the pleasure he receives relates to the Creator, meaning specifically for the Creator.

12. RABASH, Article No. 31 (1987), “What Is Making a Covenant in the Work?”

Making a covenant means that when a person takes upon himself the work, even if in Lo Lishma, he must make a covenant with the Creator to serve Him whether he wants to or not.

Yet, we should understand on what the enthusiasm depends. It depends only on the reward. That is, when there is a big reward, the desire for the work does not stop. But when the reward is doubtful, the desire for the work vanishes and he shifts to rest. That is, at that time he feels more pleasantness in rest.

It is so much so that he says, “I relinquish the work, and anyone who wants can do this work because it is not for me.” But making a covenant is when he begins to work even in Lo Lishma.

13. RABASH, Article No. 26 (1987), “What Is a Light Commandment?”

When can a person receive the delight and pleasure? Specifically when he can work without reward. That is, specifically when he is not concerned with his own benefit and everything he does is only for the sake of the Creator, then he is fit to receive the good, since he already has equivalence of form. Then, it is considered that he has Kelim in which the abundance can be without being spoiled. This is regarded as Kelim that are cleansed from self-love, and are corrected with the desire to bestow. For this reason, they have equivalence with the abundance, which comes only because His desire is to bestow, and in such Kelim the abundance can be.

14. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 42, “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”

Those who want to walk in the path of bestowal should always be in gladness. This means that in any shape that comes upon him he should be in gladness since he has no intention to receive for himself. This is why he says that either way, if he is really working in order to bestow, he should certainly be glad that he has been granted bringing contentment to his Maker. And if he feels that his work is still not to bestow, he should also be glad because for himself, he says that he does not want anything for himself. He is happy that the will to receive cannot enjoy this work, and that should give him joy.

15. RABASH, Article No. 16 (1987), “The Difference Between the Work of the General Public and the Work of the Individual”

The essence of the fear of the Creator is because the Creator is great and ruling. This is what compels us to observe His Mitzvot [commandments], since this is regarded as working not in order to receive reward, meaning not for one’s own sake—so he will receive some reward for his work. Rather, the work itself is the reward because he feels it is a great privilege that he sees that he was given a thought and desire to serve the King, and regards the great gift he has been given from above as a fortune.

16. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 3, “The Matter of Spiritual Attainment”

May we merit receiving His light and following the ways of the Creator, and to serve Him not in order to receive reward but to give contentment to the Creator and raise the Shechina [Divinity] from the dust. May we be rewarded with Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator and the revelation of His Godliness to His creatures.