What should our community look like in practice? How might the different pieces discussed in my previous columns — the lesson of Creation, the message of Torah, the “inspired hearts” of the Mishkan’s builders— come together in real life? And how does this solve the problems listed previously? I will try to outline an ideal picture; I recognize from the outset that there will be innumerable holes and practical problems with these suggestions.¹ If the ideal is correct, though, it remains our responsibility to deal with the challenges, rather than scrapping the ideal in favor of a less difficult model. Therefore, it is valuable to attempt to sketch the outlines of this uniquely committed community.

Adults

Let us begin with the adults, the bedrock of the community. Everyone has embraced the mindset represented by Creation: We exist not to take, but to give. There are, of course, concentric circles in which we all travel — self, nuclear family, extended family, community, nation and world — which circumscribe the impact of each individual, but everyone at least recognizes the value of contributing to others rather than focusing solely on self-development or pleasure.

Kochos (Talents)

Each person should know clearly what their unique koach is, the area in which they are uniquely talented and can make a significant contribution. Combined with the Halachic Man, the Olam Hazeh (This World) mentality described previously leads people who have been raised with a unique skill set and the drive to utilize it to tackle problems facing the community in the spirit of bringing it in line with Hashem’s blueprint for the ideal community. It is impossible to list all the different roles that need to be filled, but here’s a start. Without attempting anything comprehensive, and merely exploring the question, what do the adults in this ideal community do?

• Communally:

1. Trained parenting experts can help parents deal with the challenges of raising children, including referring them to the appropriate professionals (psychologists and psychiatrists) when necessary (for example, the OU’s Gen Aleph).
2. Personal finance consultants and accountants can help with budgeting and investing (again, the OU’s Living Smarter Jewish).
3. Marriage therapists can give shalom bayis classes, mediate issues and facilitate smoother divorces (when necessary) (see Shalom Task Force for a model).
4. People with artistic talents can offer extracurriculars for children or one-off opportunities for parents and children to strengthen their relationship by doing something constructive together.
5. Communal organizations need to be led, managed and staffed.

• Professionally:

1. Any profession or trade which helps someone, solves a problem or adds value to society is fair game.
2. The obvious ones: doctors, therapists, social workers, psychologists, teachers.
3. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, locksmiths, handymen, personal trainers and nutritionists are all incredibly helpful and necessary for a community to function.
4. Artists and musicians can play a role in cultivating the emotional and experiential aspects of life and avodas Hashem. (At the same time, we should avoid falling into the celebrity worship of the broader world.)
5. Finance, law, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, technology, mathematics and many more — these can go either way. If the job is chosen based on the value it adds or the problems it solves, it can be hugely important; in some cases, though, the job is less about solving problems and more about making money, which doesn’t align with the ideals of l’ovdah and osek b’yishuvo shel olam. In other words, an app developer making the next Subway Surfer is wasting his time; a developer working on an app to strengthen mental health or promote positive habits is osek b’yishuvo shel olam every single day. There are a lot of gray areas here; much depends on the person’s attitude and perspective.
6. Business — Again, if you’re adding value, it’s crucial; what community can function without grocery stores, clothing stores, household goods and everything else? However, businesses that focus more on luxuries or creating needs (in many cases, advertising and fashion) should be avoided.
7. Politicians — Both in Israel and in the diaspora, we need people who are willing to be osek b’tzorchei tzibbur (serve the community)— b’emunah, in an ethical, principled way. In fact, it may be one of the positions with the strongest potential to shape society and the world. The reality that power corrupts must be kept in mind, but we can’t really afford to abandon the position due to that concern.

Of course, an occupation not mentioned here does not imply that it’s devoid of value. Rather, these are just a number of examples meant to outline and concretize the approach. Any profession that solves a real problem or adds value to the world in a significant way, following the guidelines and values of the halachic system, is a kiyum (fulfillment) of l’ovdah u’l’shomrah and a worthwhile usage of one’s God-given talents — or, put differently, a kiyum of the Rambam’s directive to spend one’s day involved in divrei chochmah and yishuvo shel olam (Hilchos Gezeilah 6:11).

Tzvi Goldstein graduated from Yeshiva University with semicha and a degree in Psychology. After making aliyah, he taught in Yeshivat Hakotel for five years and now edits sefarim for a number of publishers. He recently published a sefer with Mosaica Press called Halachic Worldviews, exploring Rav Soloveitchik’s approach to developing hashkafa from halacha, and writes at tgb613.substack.com. You can reach him at [email protected].

• One of the most significant problems here is that this picture does not address  one of the most significant issues — the  skyrocketing cost of living in the American Orthodox community. Making enough to get by is not easy. A person must do whatever it takes to support himself and his family, and this is clearly a value — “Yegiah kapecha ki tocheil, ashrecha v’tov lach—You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; you shall be happy and you shall prosper.” A main factor in choosing a number of the jobs that don’t fit the nature of the list below, or do feature but are chosen by many more people than are actually passionate about those careers, is the high earning potential that those jobs carry, putting aside yishuvo shel olam (the obligation of sustaining the world) to facilitate parnassa. Without ignoring the elephantine importance of that factor, what I’m laying out here is a description of what our ideal vision might be. If it’s correct, the challenge becomes working to bring the reality more in line, step by step, with the ideal.