Why Physical Labour is a Spiritual Necessity

In [the] Torah portion, Ekev, Moses tells the Israelites that if they follow God’s commandments, He will “give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, and you shall gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.” The Talmud (Berakhot 35b) asks:

“And you shall gather in your corn.” What is to be learned from these words? Since it says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth,” I might think that this injunction is to be taken literally. Therefore it says, “And you shall gather in your corn”, which implies that you are to combine the study of them with a worldly occupation.

Although elsewhere the Torah states that one should always be meditating upon the Torah, here we are told that we should be working the fields. The Sages learn from this the importance of combining Torah study with some form of employment. This sentiment is expressed throughout rabbinic literature. Pirkei Avot (2:2) famously states:

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Keywords: labor, labour, work, working, physical labor, physical labour, idleness, idle, salary, paid clergy, clergy, clergy class, sweat of thy brow, sweat of the brow

Bible reference(s): Genesis 2:15, Gen 3:19, Exo 13:9, Deu 21:20, Josh 1:8, Pro 6:6, Pro 6:9-11, Pro 10:4-5, Pro 12:24, Pro 13:4, Pro 19:15, Pro 19:24, Pro 20:4, Pro 20:13, Pro 21:25, Pro 24:30-31, Pro 24:33-34, Pro 26:13-16, Ecc 1:3, Ecc 5:12, Ecc 9:10, Ecc 10:18, Eze 16:49, Mat 6:11, 2Th 3:10-11

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