Why God Makes Us Work: The Deeper Purpose Behind Human Effort

Rabbeinu Bachya, in Sha’ar HaBitachon, provides two reasons why the Creator obligated a person to work for his physical needs, and why He created man so dependent that all his life he must exert effort for his livelihood.

1. God wanted to test a person if he would follow His ways. Man was therefore created needing many things including food, drink, clothing, shelter, and a spouse. God commanded him to pursue these needs in ways permitted by the holy Torah. When a person seeks and attains them through permitted means, he earns reward both in this world and in the next.

If a person did not need food, he would not need to plant, harvest, or perform agricultural work, and he could not fulfill many land-related mitzvot such as kilayim (forbidden mixtures), leket (gleanings), shikhecha (forgotten sheaves), pe’ah (leaving the corner of the field), terumot and ma’asrot (tithes), shmita (sabbatical year), etc.

If he did not need clothing, he could not fulfill the mitzvot of tzitzit, avoiding shaatnez (forbidden fabric mixtures), and others. If he did not need a home, he could not fulfill the mitzvot of mezuzah or building a ma’akeh (roof railing).

Similarly, if there was no need for money, a large part of the Torah could not be kept such as giving charity to the poor, paying a worker on time, refraining from charging interest, and many other commandments related to money.

If man did not need a wife, he could not fulfill the mitzvot of kiddushin (marriage), pru urvu (procreation), and raising children.

Thus, God created man in need of all these things to test whether he will choose God’s mitzvot, walk in His ways, and earn immense reward for them.

2. If man did not need to work for his livelihood, he would have free time all day, and idleness leads a person to violate the entire Torah. Imagine if all people woke up in the morning with nothing to do, like animals that need no planning or effort. Inevitably, the yetzer hara (evil inclination) would tempt them into “entertaining” activities that would gradually lead to sin.

As the prophet Isaiah said (Isaiah 5:12): “The harp and the lyre, tambourine and flute and wine are at their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the Lord, nor consider the deeds of His hands. As our Sages taught: Idleness leads to immorality.

Moreover, excessive abundance often leads a person to rebel against God, as the Torah warns (Deuteronomy 32:15): “Yeshurun grew fat and kicked… he abandoned God who made him and spurned the Rock of his salvation.”

A Historical Example – The Generation of the Flood

Midrash Rabbah recounts that the generation of the Flood enjoyed unimaginable prosperity: they would plant their fields once every forty years, lived on average 800 years, newborns could speak immediately after birth and even cut their own umbilical cords, and wild animals seemed to them as harmless as small mice.

They had everything including wealth, strength, and power. However, instead of using these blessings for good, they became arrogant, relying on their own might and abandoning God. Eventually, their corruption left only one solution: the Flood to destroy the world and start again.

Since then, God created humans weaker and dependent, so they would be occupied with earning their livelihood, leaving less time and opportunity to defy His will.

The Key to Wealth

Rabbeinu Bachya concludes: If a person chooses God’s service, follows His ways, keeps the Torah’s commandments to the best of his ability, and trusts God both regarding spiritual matters (that He will help him fulfill the mitzvot) and material matters (that He will provide for his needs) — and if he yearns for good character traits and despises bad ones, there is one further condition.

If he can prove to God that even if freed from worldly concerns he would not become arrogant, nor waste time on idle or harmful pursuits, but would devote all his free time to Torah and good deeds, then God will remove from him the burden of material effort.

We can understand this with the following parable: A wealthy man has an only son whom he loves dearly, but he knows the boy has a tendency toward reckless living. Though he wants to provide his son with all he needs, he realizes that giving it all at once will lead the boy astray.

Instead, he assigns him work in one of his businesses from morning to evening, keeping him too busy to fall into harmful distractions, and teaching him to appreciate his father’s generosity.

If, over time, the father sees that his son truly values his gifts, thanks him, uses his free time to help others and study Torah, and shows no sign of arrogance or corruption, the father gladly frees him from work, giving him everything he needs so he can focus entirely on noble pursuits.

May we all merit to achieve this greatness!