“You shall pay his wage on that day and the sun shall not set on him, for he is poor and his life depends on it, and he shall not call against you to Hashem, for it shall be a sin on you” (Devarim 24:15).
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, we are commanded to pay our workers on time. The slightest delay beyond sunset of the day on which payment is due is considered a sin. Earlier on in the parsha, we are also commanded to pay Hashem on time:
“When you make a vow to Hashem your God, you shall not be late in paying it, for Hashem your God will surely demand it of you, and there will be a sin in you” (Devarim 23:22).
We, therefore, see that both regarding payments due to our fellow man and payments due to Hashem there is a clear Torah requirement to be punctual and it is a sin to withhold due reward. However, whilst Hashem sets certain standards for us, at first glance, He does not appear to use the same time frames Himself. One of the major tenets of our belief is that the true reward for our efforts in this world will only come in the World to Come. If we see the righteous suffer we are not to despair, for we believe their reward is being withheld for later.
How can it be that we are expected to pay our workers on time when time and time again, Hashem withholds and delays our rewards?
I once heard Rav Shlomo Riskin explain that there are different kinds of workers. On the one hand, there is the s’chir yom — a daily worker who is employed to perform specific tasks, e.g. hiring somebody to tile a bathroom floor or mow the lawn. These are the workers that the Torah requires us to pay on the very same day, at the completion of their tasks.
However, there is also the kablan — a worker who is contracted to complete a project, e.g. building a house. In such a case, the worker cannot turn up and expect to be paid at each small stage, just for tiling the bathroom floor or mowing the lawn. Only at significant milestones or upon the completion of the project can he expect to deserve the full reward.
Hashem does not unjustly withhold the rewards for our efforts because we are not s’chirei yom who can expect to be rewarded after completing each specific task. We are kablanim with projects and missions to complete. We cannot just put tefillin on one morning or keep one Shabbat and then sit back and wait to be rewarded. We have missions in life — to build Jewish homes based on Torah values, to lead upright lives dedicated to the service of Hashem, to be lights unto the nations and to be strong links in the chain of our people. Apart from the general tasks, we also have individual tasks to complete and it is for each person to discover their mission and role in this world. Only when our time is up and we present our final projects for judgment can we expect to be rewarded.
May we succeed in correctly identifying, understanding and performing our roles, so that when the deadlines for our missions arrive, we will only deserve reward.
Rabbi Danny Mirvis is acting CEO of World Mizrachi, and rabbi of Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Herzliya Pituach.
