Avodah: A Tough Job

Avodah: A Tough Job

Rabbi Yehoishophot Oliver

The purpose of a Jew’s life is avodas Hashem. The word avodah has multiple meanings. The most basic meaning is sheirus, to serve Hashem like a servant serves and prepares things for his master, similar to the expression, “I was created to serve my Maker.”[1] Thus, the word avodah means service.[2]

However,[3] the Hebrew word avodah also has a different but related connotation. It is etymologically related to the word ibud, “processing.” This involves taking a coarse, unusable substance, and treating it in various ways until it is refined and usable.

The classic example of this is taking a smelly, foul hide of an animal, and investing the tremendous effort necessary to treat it using many and various treatments until it is converted into leather. Then not only can it be used for constructive mundane purposes, it can even be used for holy purposes, such as parchment for Tefillin and the like.

Likewise, the Jew must engage in avodah in the sense of processing a coarse substance—taking the gashmiyus and the chumriyus (see here) of his body, his Bestial Soul, and the world around him, and fighting and struggling with herculean strength, even in the face of tremendous adversity, to reject the chumriyus and refine and transform the gashmiyus into a vessel for spirituality and G–dliness.[4]

The[5] extent and nature of the effort required to accomplish this transformation varies greatly, depending upon the person’s individual level and life circumstances.

Just[6] as processing hides involves transforming a substance from one extreme to another, so are we to transform the Bestial Soul from a desire for worldly pleasures to the other extreme—love of Hashem.[7]

Furthermore,[8] the hide resists being changed into leather, because one wants to change it into a state completely different from its natural state. So, too, the Bestial Soul naturally resist one’s efforts to transform it, and this necessitates avodah—tremendous effort to go against one’s nature.[9] And yet this resistance is in fact positive, because otherwise we would not need avodah—toil to change the Bestial Soul, and Hashem wants this task to require effort.

This[10] analogy, which emphasizes the need for toil, also implies that it is insufficient to serve Hashem out of fear alone; fear of Hashem does not necessarily require toil, for some people possess a natural fear of Hashem.[11] In contrast, love of Hashem always requires effort to evoke;[12] thus, true self-refinement requires developing both fear and love of Hashem.

Moreover, the hide is hard, and so processing it involves crushing it in order to soften it, and then it can become leather. Likewise, a Jew should engage in Iskafya, lit. “subduing”—going against his nature and crushing it.[13] This softens his personality, fulfilling the directive of our sages, “One should always be soft like a reed, and not hard like cedar.”[14]

This[15] analogy also expresses to the emotional difficulty involved, for the task of processing hides is degrading. Thus, we find that “One may not appoint a king or a high priest who was a tanner [one who processes hides]; since this task is degrading, the people will deride them.”[16] Likewise, the task of transforming the body, the Bestial Soul, and the outside world, will involve enduring unpleasantness and degradation.

A[17] Jew who struggles to overcome his nature is called an oved Elokim, a servant of Hashem. The use of the word oved in present tense implies that this expression refers to one engaged in a constant, lifelong battle with the evil inclination.

Why[18] is the specific name of Elokim used in this context? Because Elokim, which has the numerical value of hateva, nature,[19] is the divine name that creates the natural order. And when a Jew toils to change his own nature within, this has an impact upon the cosmos in general, such that he “processes” and refines the natural order as a whole, which stems from the divine name of Elokim.[20]

Moreover,[21] ultimately, investing the tremendous effort required to refine the physical elevates the Jew to a state of bittul bimetzius, complete submission to Hashem. This means that not only the Neshamah, but even the Bestial Soul and the body reach a state of bittul bimetzius, such that their entire being exists only to fulfill Hashem’s will. May we all merit to reach this level!


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[1] Kiddushin 82b.
[2] Hemshech Mayim Rabim 5636, p. 91.
[3] Torah Ohr, Bereshis 5b; ibid., Mishpatim 76a. Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2d.
[4] Hayom Yom, 17 Sivan.
[5] Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, p. 39.
[6] Ma’amarei Admur HaTzemach Tzedek, 5615, p. 266.
[7] Cf. Tanya ch. 17.
[8] Toras Menachem 5711, Vol. 3, p. 152.
[9] Tanya 118a.
[10] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 4, p. 329.
[11] Kuntres HoAvodah, chs. 1-3.
[12] Of course, some may have to exert more effort than others—cf. Tanya ch. 42.
[13] Ma’amarim Melukatim, Vol. 2, p. 361.
[14] Ta’anis 20a.
[15] Sefer HaSichos 5751, Vol. 1, p. 158.
[16] Kiddushin 82a. Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 1:6.
[17] Tanya ch. 15.
[18] Toras Menachem 5712, Vol. 5, p. 138.
[19] Ramak, Pardes 12:2. Reishis Chochmah, Sha’ar HaTeshuvah, ch. 6, s.v. vehamargil.
[20] Cf. Likkutei Torah, Balak 73d.
[21] Sefer HaMa’amarim 5733, p. 377.



Dedicated in the merit of a speedy release for the captives Yonasan ben Malka (Jonathan Pollard), Sholom Mordechai Halevi ben Rivka (Sholom Rubashkin), and Zeva Rochel bas Chaya (Wendy Weiner Runge).




Dedicated by the Weinberger family in honor of the yahrtzeit of Melech ben Sara Masha a"h on 19 Tammuz.

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Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Sin Detracts from Our Bond with Hashem

Rabbi Y. Oliver

(This is a continuation from the previous post.)

In addition to the specific kind of wicked deed that each of the negative emotions entices one to commit, all negative emotions seek to make the Jew susceptible to sin in general, for, as our sages say “A person does not sin unless possessed by a spirit of foolishness.”[1] This “spirit of foolishness” comprises the negative emotions within the Bestial Soul, which are “foolish”—they seek to entice the person to sin by concealing from him the truth of the nature of sin.

The “spirit of foolishness” uses falsehood to entice the person to sin in many ways. One of its prime ruses is the claim: “Sin will not impinge upon your bond with Hashem.”[2]

Every Jew possesses an innate love and yearning for Hashem (the ahavah mesuteres[3]) that makes it intolerable for him to allow his bond with Hashem to be weakened, never mind severed, G–d forbid. In the words of the Alter Rebbe, “A Jew doesn’t want to, and cannot, become separated from G–dliness.”[4] And since “Your sins separate between you and Hashem, your G–d,”[5] by nature, a Jew cannot bring himself to commit a sin and thereby sever his connection with Hashem.

Yet this only means that the Jew cannot bring himself to knowingly sever his connection with Hashem. However, the Evil Inclination, called “the sly one,”[6] can delude him into imagining that sin will not detract from his bond with Hashem, and it is this outlook that makes him capable of sin.

One with this belief has entered a state of spiritual delusion, and this enables him to fall into a vicious cycle of sin without concern for the spiritual repercussions. After all, he is a Jew regardless, he tells himself, and so he can still perform Mitzvos. Despite what happened, he will still come to shul the next morning, don his Tallis and Tefillin, and davven. His relationship with Hashem will not be affected.[7] 

On a more severe level, and often as a tragic result of not having received a proper Jewish education, this spiritual denial may also be accompanied by various foolish heretical rationalizations. He doesn’t keep kosher, he claims, because “Kosher was only necessary in the past for health reasons, but now that we have advanced in our medical knowledge, it is no longer necessary,” G–d forbid, and the like. The main thing, he declares, is “to be a Jew in your heart,” or simply a “good person”—according to whatever that means by the currently popular definition of secular society, of course. And yet at the same time, he identifies as Jewish, often proudly; he affiliates himself with certain “Jewish” causes and groups; and he adheres to certain Mitzvos and age-old Jewish customs.

In any case, it is indeed true that “Even one who has sinned remains a Jew,”[8] and since Jewishness means possessing a Jewish Neshamah, even a sinner has a Neshamah. However, it is only the Neshamah’s essence (also known as the soul-level of Yechidah) that remains completely unaffected by sin;[9] its lower levels, however, are severely damaged by sin[10], may G–d save us. (Concerning the levels of the Neshamah, see here).

In fact, at the time that one commits a sin—even a relatively minor rabbinic prohibition—these lower levels of the Neshamah become completely severed from G–dliness, and even more distant from Hashem than the forces of Kelipah, may G–d save us.[11] And even afterwards they remain stained and wounded, and the process of cleansing and healing them thoroughly through Teshuvah (repentance) may be long and arduous.

Since one connects to Hashem on the conscious level through the revealed parts of the Neshamah, the damage done to these parts of the Neshamah is indeed very detrimental to one’s relationship with Hashem, and keeping this in mind is one method of overcoming the temptation to sin.

May we all recognize, each one of us on his or her own level, that any deviation at all from the will of Hashem will detrimentally affect our relationship with Him, and may this recognition give us the inspiration to commit ourselves to obeying His will without compromise.

Based on Toras Menachem 5718, Vol. 22, pp. 88-89.

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[1] Sotah 3a.
[2] Tanya ch. 14. Cf. ibid. chs. 24, 25.
[3] Ibid. chs. 18, 19.
[4] Hayom Yom 25 Tammuz. Cf. ibid. 21 Sivan.
[5] Yeshaya 59:2.
[6] Cf. Hayom Yom 23 Sivan.
[7] Sefer HaMa’amarim Toras Shmuel 5640, Vol. 2, p. 369.
[8] Sanhedrin 44a.
[9] Cf. Hayom Yom 11 Shevat: “He may be missing in one area or another, but the Modeh Ani [i.e., the essence of the Neshamah] of a Jew [always] remains whole.”
[10] Cf. Sefer HaMa’amarim Melukat, Vol. 1, p. 151 ff.
[11] Tanya ch. 24.


This post was dedicated in honor of my dear father, tzu langer yoren, Reb Kasriel ben Yehudis Oliver, as a merit for success in his personal life.

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Refining the sparks within the nations

The Rebbe Maharash teaches:

“Hashem did a charity for us by scattering us among the nations.”[1] Why was this a charity? For by scattering us among the nations, He enabled us to fulfill a special mission: To refine the sparks of holiness hidden within them.

This is the deeper meaning of Hashem’s blessing to the Jewish people, “You will eat all the nations.”[2] Eating represents birur, refinement, and G–d then declared that the Jewish people would ultimately “eat up” and refine the sparks of holiness that lie hidden within the nations and their countries.

This is also the deeper meaning of Hashem’s statement to the Jewish people: “You shall be for me a segulah from all the nations”[3]—from all the gentile nations. I.e., when we refine them, we, the Jewish people, become a segulah, a beloved treasure, for Hashem.

Based on Sefer HaMa’amarim Toras Shmuel 5729, p. 65.

Jews refine non-Jews in several ways. When Jews interact with non-Jews in an upstanding, righteous manner, and make a kiddush Hashem (“sanctification of Hashem’s Name”):

– they[4] act as a “Light unto the nations,”[5] inspiring certain non-Jews to adopt a more refined, wholesome, G–d-centered lifestyle, seeing the shining example set by the Jewish people;

– they inspire certain non-Jews to come and learn from Jews how to serve Hashem as is required for them, by keeping the Noahide laws; moreover, Jews who have the opportunity (especially when they already have connections with non-Jews for business purposes, or the like) even approach non-Jews and convince them to undertake to follow the Noahide laws, and in this way they fulfill Rambam’s ruling[6] that Jews must encourage non-Jews to fulfill their laws;

– they inspire certain non-Jews to convert, for “Hashem only exiled the Jewish people among the nations in order to increase converts.”[7]

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[1] Pesachim 87b.
[2] Devarim 7:16.
[3] Ibid. 7:6
[4] In connection with this point and the following one, see Hisva’aduyos 5744, Vol. 3, p. 1813.
[5] Yeshayah 49:6, 42:6.
[6] Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings, 8:10.
[7] Pesachim 87b. See Orchos Tzaddikim, Gate of Truth: “One should not lie to a Jew or a non-Jew, or deceive them in any matter. ... Hashem only exiled the Jewish people in order to increase converts, and as long as they [Jews] behave with them [non-Jews] without deception, [non-Jews] will attach themselves to them [Jews].”

This post was dedicated by Reb Yeshayahu Don ben Chayah Tsipah and Sheila Shulamit bas Sarah Beila in honor of their wedding anniversary, and in honor of the yohrtzeit of Tsvi Horst Lubinizki.

Like what you read? The articles I write take a lot of time and effort. Please contact me to sponsor an article for $36 in honor of the birthday, wedding anniversary, or yarhtzeit of a loved one, or for a refuah shleimah or the like. Also, see here concerning the tremendous merit of supporting the dissemination of Chassidus, and the blessings that one receives for doing so.