Lazy or Resting

 

There are very few words that I will ask clients not to use in my clinic. They are not as you might think cuss words, but rather words which reflect a certain mindset which usually is not helpful for them.

 

One of those words is “lazy”. It is specifically a red light when a person uses it to describe himself. It is a word that is judgmental as well as humiliating – which may be the very reason the person uses it in the first place. If it helps the person, I will not say anything but usually the word has the effect of making the person feel worse about themselves – not usually an ingredient for a healthy emotional and meaning-filled life.

 

When Yaakov blesses his children, he surprisingly blesses Yissachar with the words: “and he saw that rest was good”.1 We know that Yaakov was a hard worker. So much so that even when Lavan messes with his wages, Rabbi Aharon Kahn, my rabbi, notes that Yaakov continues to work hard:2 “For with all my strength I worked for your father.”3 So why would Yaakov bless his children with “menucha”? With rest?

 

The Torah uses the word menucha in another context which Targum Yerushalmi alludes to as well. Moshe, when giving his final words to the people, says “you have not yet come to menucha.”4 The Gemara explains that the word menucha refers to the Temple. Although it is not the regular definition of menucha which means rest, the Gemara says that Moshe tells the nation that the Temple is considered as rest.

 

When one thinks of the Temple, however, ‘rest’ is not the word that comes to mind. People are preparing the sacrifices, throngs are arriving early to have their offerings cared for, kohanim and leviyim are fulfilling their tasks, etc. It is actually quite a busy place – not a place where you might attach the word rest.

 

The word rest, then must mean something else. It will not mean sitting on a beach with a tequila in hand. Yet it says on the seventh day of creation that God rested. So what does menucha really mean?

 

In a beautiful description of the concept, Rabbi Turetsky, basing himself on the Meiri, explains that everyone’s definition of rest will be different. Depending on what your week looks like, your proactive Shabbos will look different. Our individual Shabbos will provide us with the opportunity that makes the most sense for us. And that is the menucha. That is the invitation to use the time properly.6

 

As an example, the Meiri describes one who learns Torah intensely all week who needs the time on Shabbos to rest a bit from that intensity and perhaps study something lighter whereas the one who is working all week may find a need to immerse himself in Torah study.

 

Resting, then, may have its own worth, but, as Dr. Viktor Frankl holds, resting ought not be viewed as an end in and of itself but rather that it is necessary in order to continue to grow. Calling this ‘centripetal leisure’ he describes the need we have to ‘finish our thoughts’ in a fast-paced world. “We need new types of leisure which allow for contemplation and meditation.”7

 

We need to rest. But flat-lining is not our eventual goal – growth is.

 

Shabbos then may be a “lazy day” but that does not mean we are lazy. Rather we are taking a break to re-energize – everyone in their own personal area in which they most need it.

 

Image by Penny from Pixabay

 

Footnotes

  1. Bereishit 49:15
  2. https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecturedata/802684/Birchas-Habonim
  3. Bereishit 31:6
  4. Devarim 12:9
  5. Zevachim 119a
  6. https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecturedata/976276/Shabbos:-Day-of-Rest-or-Day-of-Spiritual-Opportunity?
  7. Frankl, Viktor E.. The Will to Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy (p. 73). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

For More Information On Logotherapy And How You Can Create A Fuller, More Meaningful Life, Or To Book An Online Session,

  1. Call Me At +972-54-589-3399, or in Israel 054-5893399
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