In the Torah portion of Seitzei we read:
[1] "Do not withhold the wages due to your poor or destitute hired laborer.... You must give him his wage on the day it is due, and not let the sun set with him waiting for it."
Our Sages inform us[2] that G-d performs that which He commands the Jewish people to perform. The service of the Jewish people in their performance of Torah and mitzvos is likened to that of a laborer for an employer.[3]
Accordingly, it would seem that as soon as a Jew finishes performing a mitzvah, he should "on that day" receive his recompense.
Why is it then that we find that G-d does not reward the performance of a mitzvah immediately, but delays it for the morrow - the "World to Come,"[4] as in the saying:[5] "Today to do them; tomorrow to receive the reward."?
The Alter Rebbe[6] quotes the saying of our Sages,[7] that "the purpose for which this world was created is that G-d desired to have an abode in the lower realms," referring, as the Alter Rebbe explains, to this physical world. It is in this gross material world that G-d desires to dwell, so that the world will be illuminated with the unconcealed light of G-dliness.[8]
This is accomplished through our actions and divine service throughout the period of exile[9] and throughout the entire period of the Jewish people's service to G-d. For in its every action, our service of Torah and mitzvos refines and elevates the world, drawing down G-dliness within it.
Ultimately, the combined service of all the Jewish people throughout all the generations refines and elevates the entire world, transforming it into a dwelling fit for G-d.
This will be realized during the times of Moshiach, and particularly during the time of techiyas hameisim, at which time evil will vanish from this world and there will be a "revelation of His glory, and all flesh will behold G-dliness together... and the glory of G-d will fill the whole world."[10]
Thus, the spiritual service of all the Jewish people throughout all the generations constitutes a single "job," the purpose of which is that transformation of the world into an abode for G-d. Moreover, this labor does not require the contributions of a mere "hired hand" but rather that of a contractor - G-d contracted out the world, as it were, to the Jewish people, that we make it into a dwelling for Him.
This explains why the bulk of the Jews' reward will be in the World to Come, during the times of Moshiach and particularly during the time of techiyas hameisim, for the reward of the World to Come will be given to all Jews as one.[11] And this reward will indeed be received immediately upon the conclusion of our labor.
In light of the above, we may say that the service of the Jewish people and their subsequent reward extend into the realm of a partnership; G-d delights, as it were, in the successful fulfillment of His desire that the world be transformed - "It is pleasurable to Me that I have commanded and My will has been fulfilled"[12] - and Jews delight in "dwelling in the House of the L-rd" (which they will have built) "all the days of their lives" and "beholding the pleasantness of the L-rd."
However, it is incumbent upon the partner who relies on the other to do the work, not only to reward him at the end of his labor, but also to give him a daily payment.[13]
So too, in addition to the main reward that G-d will give the Jews in the World to Come, He rewards us in this world as well, providing us with our sustenance, so that we may be able to complete our task of transforming this world into a Divine abode.
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. XXIX, pp. 138-143
Notes:
- (Back to text) Devarim 24:14-15.
- (Back to text) Shmos Rabbah 30:9; Yerushalmi, Rosh HaShanah 1:3. See also Vayikra Rabbah 35:3.
- (Back to text) See Avos 2:14-16; Toras Kohanim, Bechukosai 26:9.
- (Back to text) See Tanchuma, Bereishis 1.
- (Back to text) Eruvin 221; Avodah Zarah 3a, 4b.
- (Back to text) Tanya, beginning of ch. 36.
- (Back to text) Tanchuma, Naso 16.
- (Back to text) Ibid.
- (Back to text) Ibid., beginning of ch. 37.
- (Back to text) Ibid., p. 94.
- (Back to text) As opposed to the reward of Gan Eden which is a reward to the individual Jew for his individual service.
- (Back to text) Sifri, Pinchas 28:8.
- (Back to text) See Rambam Hilchos Shluchin VeShutfin, beginning of ch. 8.
In the Torah portion of Seitzei we learn:
[1] "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading grain." Concerning this precept, the Alter Rebbe notes
[2] that one does not transgress this commandment if he muzzles oxen without intending to sin.
The Alter Rebbe concludes: "And so too in all similar circumstances," i.e., one does not transgress if there is absolutely no intention of committing a sin.
With regard to positive precepts, there is a dispute as to whether their performance must be accompanied by intent[3] - whether the person must consciously desire to perform the commandment. According to the majority of codifiers,[4] there are numerous commandments that need not be performed with intent. Moreover, with regard to many mitzvos, a person fulfills his obligation even when forced to perform the mitzvah!
We thus see a cardinal difference between performing a commandment and transgressing: performing a mitzvah can be accomplished even without intent, while transgression must be accompanied by intent.
Why is this so? Since the purpose of a mitzvah is to sanctify an unsanctified object and attach it to G-d, while transgressing merely diminishes the sanctity of an unholy object, making it even more distant from G-dliness, it would seem that the former would be more difficult to achieve than the latter.
Why is it, then, that in order to debase an object there must be intent, while elevating it to holiness can be accomplished without intent?
A Jew's day begins by the recitation, immediately upon awakening, of the Modeh Ani prayer: "I thank to You, living and eternal King...." This prayer, as well as the general obligation that immediately upon awakening a Jew be "fierce as a leopard... in his desire to fulfill the will of his Father in Heaven,"[5] binds a Jew to G-d throughout the day, causing him to be continuously aware that he is in G-d's presence.
Consequently, even if a person were to perform a particular mitzvah without intent later in the day, the general intention to serve G-d which he had at the start of the day suffices, inasmuch as it applies to all the good deeds the person will do during that day.[6]
The opposite, however, applies to transgressions: As long as a person does not specifically intend to transgress, he is not considered to have transgressed. For the person's intent at the beginning of the day to serve G-d nullifies any incorrect action performed without sinful intent.
However, the fact that a mitzvah need not be performed with intent while a transgression must have intent applies to all Jews - even those who fail to recite the Modeh Ani in the morning and lack the desire upon awakening to fulfill G-d's will.
Even if we were to say that the intent to perform one sin does not automatically carry over to the performance of others, and thus that each transgression requires individual intent, the question remains with regard to such a person's performance of mitzvos: Having failed to recite Modeh Ani, etc., what enables him to successfully perform mitzvos while seemingly lacking any intent?
In truth, every Jew possesses an intrinsic desire within the depths of his soul to do good and bind himself to G-d.[7]
Thus, whenever a Jew performs a mitzvah, even if it is without intent, in reality he is giving himself wholly to G-d, not only dedicating his soul, but also his body, and those objects with which he performs the commandment, so that every fiber of his being and his portion of the physical world becomes elevated, attached and united with G-d.
Based on Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IV, pp. 1123-1130
Notes:
- (Back to text) Devarim 25:4.
- (Back to text) Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein, Hilchos She'alah U'Sechirus par. 22.
- (Back to text) Ibid., Orach Chayim, 60:5.
- (Back to text) See also S'dei Chemed, Klallim, Ma'areches Mem, Klal 41ff.
- (Back to text) Beginning of Shulchan Aruch Admur HaZakein.
- (Back to text) See also Kiddushin 6a.
- (Back to text) See Rambam, Hilchos Gerushin conclusion of ch. 2.
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