Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Ethics of our Fathers: Chapter 1 Mishna 3: Serving G-d for the Right Reasons
10:56 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
"Antigonus of Socho received the oral tradition from Shimon Ha'Tzaddik. He used to say, 'Be not like servants who serve the master for the sake of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without the expectation of receiving a reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you"
The beginning of every chapter in Ethics of our Fathers starts with the phrase, 'All Israel have a share in the world to come.' The world to come is the place where after 120 years in this world, we will receive our reward for the mitzvos that we have done in the world. If this is true, aren't we doing the mitzvos for the sake of reward in the next world as the first part our Mishna tells us?
Yes, but as the second part of the Mishna tells us it is better and a higher level to serve G-d by being a servant without expectation of receiving a reward. This can better be explained by the following story.
Someone once asked me what would happen if after 120 years I found out that really everything the Torah taught was a lie (G-d forbid) and I had "wasted" my life with all these odd rules and stringencies where I would receive no reward or anything for it!
My answer was very simple. Yes, even if I would G-d forbid find out that the Torah was not true, at least I lived my life in the most moral and meaningful way. Not only that, it had changed my life and developed me into a totally different person!
The purpose of serving G-d and doing the mitzvos are to be close to Him and to learn from His ways. He gives us the ability to do that keeping the Torah and doing mitzvos. Obviously as Torah Jews we believe that this is the ultimate truth as passed down through the millenia.
This is what it means to serve G-d even if we wouldn't receive any reward because we believe it is the right thing to do. Through this we serve G-d through love and fear. We fear G-d because we realize His awesomeness and His ability to punish.
Fear of G-d and relating to His awesomeness makes us feel small and inconsequential. At the same time, it gives us the ability to show Him proper respect and act accordingly to the way He wants us to act.
The beginning of every chapter in Ethics of our Fathers starts with the phrase, 'All Israel have a share in the world to come.' The world to come is the place where after 120 years in this world, we will receive our reward for the mitzvos that we have done in the world. If this is true, aren't we doing the mitzvos for the sake of reward in the next world as the first part our Mishna tells us?
Yes, but as the second part of the Mishna tells us it is better and a higher level to serve G-d by being a servant without expectation of receiving a reward. This can better be explained by the following story.
Someone once asked me what would happen if after 120 years I found out that really everything the Torah taught was a lie (G-d forbid) and I had "wasted" my life with all these odd rules and stringencies where I would receive no reward or anything for it!
My answer was very simple. Yes, even if I would G-d forbid find out that the Torah was not true, at least I lived my life in the most moral and meaningful way. Not only that, it had changed my life and developed me into a totally different person!
The purpose of serving G-d and doing the mitzvos are to be close to Him and to learn from His ways. He gives us the ability to do that keeping the Torah and doing mitzvos. Obviously as Torah Jews we believe that this is the ultimate truth as passed down through the millenia.
This is what it means to serve G-d even if we wouldn't receive any reward because we believe it is the right thing to do. Through this we serve G-d through love and fear. We fear G-d because we realize His awesomeness and His ability to punish.
Fear of G-d and relating to His awesomeness makes us feel small and inconsequential. At the same time, it gives us the ability to show Him proper respect and act accordingly to the way He wants us to act.
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