Livelihood and Faith: Understanding the Balance Between Effort and God’s Will

God created the world in such a way that human effort is required. In order to have livelihood, we are therefore obligated to make an effort (hishtadlut). This condition tests whether a person will remember that his sustenance comes from Heaven, and to ensure that each day he remains dependent on God anew. At the same time, one must not make the mistake of thinking that effort itself brings livelihood.

Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam (the son of the Rambam) explains that effort is an obligation, because that is the condition God set for receiving livelihood. If however a person believes that effort itself produces livelihood, this is hidden heresy. True trust (bitachon) means that I do my part through effort, and I rely on God to do what is best for me.

The Chazon Ish explains that some people mistakenly think that trust in God means to sit at home and do nothing, expecting God to arrange everything, or that if one opens a business, then surely it will succeed. This is not true! Trust in God means that I do the reasonable effort required of me, because that is the condition set by God. I trust fully that what God decides is best for me is exactly what will happen.

Effort cannot add to what was decreed from Heaven

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky wrote: “The rule is that no human action or strategy can increase or decrease even slightly from what was decreed on Rosh Hashanah, except through prayer and repentance, which can overturn a decree.”

Whatever was decreed for a person on Rosh Hashanah cannot be exceeded by effort. At times, a person may succeed in achieving what he sought, but only because it had already been decreed. If not through this effort, God would have arranged for him to receive it in some other way. If it was not decreed for him, no amount of effort will grant it — at best, he may gain something in one area but lose it elsewhere. As the Talmudic Sages said: “No one can touch what is prepared for his fellow, even by a hair’s breadth” (Yoma 38b).

Effort only serves as the channel through which a person receives what was already decreed for him. Reasonable effort is a duty for livelihood, but doing more or less will not change the amount decreed. Just as with the manna in the desert, each person received precisely the portion allotted to him. Any “extra” acquired through excessive effort will either be consumed by unexpected expenses, or come at the cost of lost enjoyment in other areas of life.

In his book Amud HaAvodah, Rabbi Baruch of Kossov explains this more deeply: The commandment “Do not steal” can also be understood as: you cannot succeed in taking by theft anything that was not decreed for you. Do not delude yourself into thinking that stealing will give you more than your portion. If you steal, the money will be lost through other means, and you will not truly gain.

It's all up to God

Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, a distinguished biblical commentator, was extremely poor, yet he refused to accept charity. His students wanted to help him, so they placed a bag of coins along his usual path from home to the study hall, hoping he would find it. Curious to see what would happen, they watched from the side.

They saw Ibn Ezra walking along, and as he approached the coins, he suddenly closed his eyes, walked past them, and only later opened them again — completely missing the money.

They ran to him, bewildered: “Rabbi, why did you close your eyes just then?”

He explained: “As I was walking, I thought to myself how pitiful my situation is, and I was overcome with self-pity. I thought being hungry isn’t so bad, it could be worse, like being blind. I decided to experience what it feels like to be blind, and I closed my eyes for a few moments as I walked.”

They told him: “Rabbi, you don’t know how terrible your timing was — you closed your eyes right next to your good fortune!”

The lesson is clear: If it has not been decreed for a person to earn, the money could be lying at his feet and he still will not see it. More effort does not increase livelihood; he will only receive what is decreed from Heaven.